Masquerade
by shamanhearts
Summary: Yoh and his friends only have a month to get ready for a masquerade party. But so many things can happen in thirty days; how can one be so sure of how things will work out in the very end? AU, YohxHao
1. The Announcement

**. The Announcement .**

"We won!"

"WE WON!"

"You're one _damn_ hero, Asakura!"

Asakura Hao grinned down at him from his position on his teammates' shoulders. "It's nothing, guys. Really."

"HAO! HAO! HAO! HAO!"

People were thundering down the stands, each wanting to touch an arm, a strand of hair, a part of the shirt, anything that belonged to Shinra Academy's volleyball star and hero. "WE LOVE YOU, HAO!"

"Marry me!" Macchi, captain of the cheer squad, screamed, waving her pom-pons in the air. Her fellow cheerleaders cartwheeled their agreement.

"HAO! HAO! HAO! HAO!"

One person, however, did not share their enthusiasm. Sitting with his shoulders hunched on one of the highest seats on the bleachers, Asakura Yoh stared down at the school's star.

Hao was worshiped by practically every person who had a pulse in the campus. Girls threw themselves at his feet and every guy wanted to be him. If you didn't consider breathing the same air as him, you were branded a weirdo and people looked at you funny.

Don't get me wrong; Yoh _did_ worship the almighty _Asakura Hao_, though he rarely showed it. Why? Let's just say for now that he had a friend who was officially classified as one of the weirdos.

"I honestly don't get what is so _great_ about that guy," Usui Horokeu - preferably known as Horo Horo - voiced as he rested his chin on his palm. "That guy - who does he think he is? The richest guy in the world? _Pfft_! He's _just_ a volleyball player. JUST A VOLLEYBALL PLAYER. I could easily join the school team and gain tons of fangirls myself! That jerk makes it look all so easy!"

Yoh ignored his friend's ramblings. Instead, he watched balefully as a golden-haired girl ran up to Hao and smiled dreamily at him. "You did well in the game, Hao," she said, bringing forth a cheeky grin from the Asakura.

"Thanks," he laughed. The school cheered wildly as the two pulled each other into a hug.

Yoh puffed up his cheeks, trying to ignore the feeling of being stabbed in the chest which happened so suddenly. Horo looked up at his friend and couldn't help noticing the disturbed look on the brunette's face. "What's up?" he asked out of boredom.

"Oh, I dunno. Your head, maybe," Yoh said sarcastically, rolling his eyes in the process.

Horo was amused. "Are you jealous?" he snickered. "Of Hao?"

Yoh's eyes widened instantly, and his cheeks flushed red upon hearing the star's name being mentioned. "No...! It's just...!" he tried to protest. "A-Anna's my best friend and I just can't stand to see the both of them together!"

Horo laughed mockingly, "_Puh-leez_, Yoh. You don't even _know_ Hao."

Yoh frowned. "Keep your comments to yourself before I start pounding you," he threatened.

Yoh tried to ignore the scowl Horo gave him as he turned back to the couple, who were making their way into the school building, followed by the rest of the school campus. Unable to hold back the frustration inside of him, Yoh got to his feet and kicked the seats on the bleachers before him. "Screw the game!" he yelled. "I'm going home."

Horo furrowed his eyebrows. "But didn't you say you were going to pass some assignments to Anna?"

Yoh paused in the midst of his tantrum as he remembered about his best friend, Anna, not coming to school for the past couple of days. He sighed, "Right.. I left her assignments in class.. Let's go."

Despite being the last few to leave the stadium, the two boys still continued to stroll their way back to their classroom, with Yoh being perfectly aware of the fact that they might come across Asakura Hao in the process.

Back in class, Yoh fished out the assignments from the folder under his table, just when Hao and the golden-haired girl had stepped into the classroom.

"Hang on," the girl said. "I've got some things to take care off." She left Hao at the doorway (with Horo) and made her way to the shorter brunette, who was still standing at his desk.

"Uhh, here," he said, stretching his arm out to the girl. "Your assignments..."

"Thanks," Anna said, grabbing hold of the assignments, before playfully smacking the thick stack of papers on Yoh's head. This brought forth a crazed laughter from both Horo and Hao. Yoh couldn't help but feel extremely embarrassed about this, albeit he was already used to Anna and her random smacking hits.

Yoh slowly rubbed the back of his head, hoping it would help ease the pain. He inadvertently blurted out, "Are you and Hao together now?"

The others stopped their laughter and gave Yoh a funny look.

"I mean – " _Don't be stupid, Yoh_! " – are you and Hao.. in a relationship at the moment?"

Anna turned to Hao, and the both of them exchanged looks, before getting into another laughing fit. It was Yoh's turn to cock his head and arched a brow in confusion.

"_Very funny_, _Yoh_," said Anna. "But we're just friends."

Horo watched as his friend nodded doubtfully at his friend's words and shifted his gaze to something else.

Hao took this opportunity to speak a few words of his own, "My friends are inviting us out for some smoothies. Wanna come along?"

Yoh turned to Hao, surprised. _Was the school's star and hero actually talking to him_? Well, the look on his face showed enough sincerity for Yoh to be able to trust him. He then turned to his friend beside him, and received a scowl as a response. He turned back to Hao once last time, before shaking his head, "No, thanks. We, uh, have some things to attend to." He shot Horo a cold look before the bluenette could say a word.

Hao shrugged, "Alright. See you." He walked out of the classroom, with Anna following closely behind him. When he was clear they were out of their league, Horo advanced to Yoh and glared at him.

"You didn't have to give me that look!" he snapped.

Yoh stuck his tongue out, "Whatever. I'm going home anyway... I think my mother bought some mandarin oranges when she went to the market this morning."

Horo's eyes widened in excitement and the edges of his lips curled to form a wide grin, "M-mandarin oranges! I'm coming along!"

Yoh laughed, "Please do."

* * *

><p>After about half an hour of strolling and laughing and yakking, the two boys finally reached the Asakura household. Yoh slid open the main door and stepped inside freely, followed by Horo. It was a habit of Horo's to visit Yoh's house almost everyday just for the fun of it. At first, Yoh's family found it to be uncomfortable.. But after a while, they got used to it and now, they even considered Horo to be a part of their family.<p>

The boys ran up the stairs and went straight to Yoh's room after exchanging greetings with the elders. Yoh's mother appeared in the room shortly after with a plate of mandarin oranges and two glasses of ice cold water. The boys thanked her as she bowed and left to leave the two alone. Moments later, the boys found themselves lying on the bed and the floor, reading magazines and munching on their oranges (which have already been peeled, thanks to Yoh's mother!).

Horo turned to his friend, who was lying on the bed. He was nibbling on his orange slice and looking at graphic images of the latest game released by the _Play!Patch_ company. Horo voiced hastily, "So, you like Anna, huh?"

Yoh's eyes widened and the magazine _and_ the orange dropped onto his face. He managed a reply but Horo had to lean in closer to listen because his voice was muffled and unclear, due to the stuff lying uncomfortably on his face. "Wh-why did you ask such a thing?"

Horo shrugged, "Just curious. I kinda suspected it after you asked Anna earlier if she was dating Hao or not."

Yoh obliged himself to sit up right, brushing the objects off his face while doing so. "Don't be stupid," he said, frowning.

"_You still haven't answered my question_," Horo teased, a slight smirk forming on his face. He got to his feet and walked to the drawers, where he thought Yoh had kept all his magazines in. He reached out for the drawer and pulled it out before Yoh could yell,

"Wait, no! Don't open tha–"

"What's this _ugly-looking necklace_?" Horo blurted out as he stared at the bear-claw necklace lying dully in the drawer, which was filled with many other random things such as broken pencils and foreign money.

Yoh reached out and grabbed the necklace before Horo could touch it. He faced his friend with a stern frown, "That offended me."

Horo shrugged, "Whatever. What is that, anyway?" He turned to stare at the weird object, as if examining it. "Looks pretty old..."

Yoh tightened his grip on the necklace, and the stern features on his face disappeared instantly. His eyes went into a dreamy state, as if he was remembering something. "It was given to me by a.. childhood friend," he began. "That was many years ago, though. This necklace - it's special to me, because that kid.. _he was my first friend_. The last time I saw him was ten years ago, though."

Horo tilted his head, "Do you remember his name?"

Yoh shook his head.

"What about his face?"

"No clue."

The two boys remained silent for a long while, one thinking about his childhood while the other was thinking about whether his friend was sane or not. Eventually, the bluenette sighed and grunted, "_Everything_ you own is precious to you. That weird necklace, that samurai sword - even the headphones your father–"

Horo paused to find his friend glaring coldly at him.

"S-sorry," he mumbled and nervously scratched the back of his head, trying to get rid of the chilly feeling that was creeping its way up his spine.

"Keep your comments to yourself," said Yoh sternly.

* * *

><p>The following day, Yoh and Horo met up and walked to school together. When they stepped into their class, they found their classmate - Kyouyama Anna - laughing along with the most popular guy in school - Asakura Hao.<p>

Upon seeing the sight of the couple, Yoh widened his eyes and turned sharply, "I need to go to the washro–"

"Oh, no, you don't," Horo said as he dragged Yoh into the classroom.

"Yo!" Hao greeted happily as he noticed the two boys stepping into the classroom. Anna, too, turned to them both and grinned.

Horo walked up to the two of them, dragging Yoh along with him. Hao noticed Yoh sulking and furrowed his eyebrows, "What's wrong with him?"

"Just being childish and throwing a tanthrum, as usual," said Horo, rolling his eyes.

"Well, it's because _someone_ isn't allowing me to go to the bathroom," said Yoh sarcastically, as he turned his head and glared coldly at his friend. Horo shrugged and rolled his eyes once again. He released his grip on Yoh's shirt and watched as the brunette ran as fast as he could to goodness-knows-where; as long as it was somewhere _far away_ from the gang.

Hao chuckled, "That Yoh guy seems pretty interesting."

"Yeah, tell me about it," said Horo. It was his turn to be sarcastic. He turned to Anna, who tried to avoid his gaze by turning to look at her other classmates.

Oblivious to the odd body language between Horo and Anna, Hao laughed cheerily, "I'd like to know more about that guy!"

"Hao," Anna called out, getting his attention. "The bell's going to ring any minute now. You should get going to your class right now."

Hao stared blankly at the blonde, as if pondering over something. His dark eyes showed a slight tint of confusion, but it was so subtle, it was almost unnoticeable. Finally, after about half a minute of awkward silence, Hao shrugged and spoke up, "If you say so." He walked briskly out of the classroom and made his way to his own.

Horo continued to stare at Anna - who stared back - before advancing to his seat.

When it was finally time for lunch, Yoh stayed in class and took out his huge lunch set to share with Horo, who never bothered to bring his own lunch. Sometimes, Yoh asked himself why he was even friends with an extreme lazybum like him, but eventually he came to the conclusion that that didn't really matter, and as long as he was happy around him, he was fine.

Horo grabbed hold of a rice ball and took a big bite from it. With his mouth still full of rice grains, he spoke up, "I'm still convinced that you've developed a crush on that _Anna_ girl." He turned to look around the classroom, making sure no one was overhearing their conversation.

Yoh widened his eyes and paused in the midst of eating his own riceball, "Wh-what! _No_! I mean.. how can I say that...?"

Horo arched a brow, truly intrigued by Yoh's last line. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"Anna's my best friend. I can't say that I have a crush on her," Yoh said plainly.

Horo gave Yoh a confused look, but since he didn't say anything more, Yoh ignored him and continued eating his lunch.

Then Horo came up of something. "Hey, could that childhood friend of yours be a girl?"

Yoh shook his head, "I highly doubt it. My friend and I went to the men's room _all_ the time."

And with that, the two continued having their lunch in awkward silence.

Later that day, the students of Shinra Academy were made to stay back as their principal had an important announcement to make. All students remained in their classes while they listened to the announcement through the speakers, which have been implanted in almost every room in the school building,

"_Attention, students. I am here to proudly announce to you that the school has organised a masquerade party, which will be held in a month's time. Students and staff will have to dress up in costumes and disguise themselves; remember, no one _has_ to recognize you! On the night of the party, you will have to find a partner - regardless of whether you know them or not - and the both of you will have to dance until the party ends. I repeat..._"

Yoh's face lightened and he displayed an extremely wide grin, "That sounds fun!"

Horo shrugged, "I dunno, man. I mean, it's _weird_. You never know when that partner of yours happens to be a guy." Horo shuddered at the thought of wrapping his own arm around a male's waist.

Yoh's grin was then replaced by a meek smile, and he merely shrugged in response.

Horo widened his eyes, and he stared at his friend with the same expression. "Hang on...," he muttered. "Y-Yoh, are you telling me y-you're... _gay_?"

Yoh shrugged once again, this time a goofy grin began to form on his face.

"Get away from me, man!"

Yoh laughed, "Don't worry, I won't do anything to you" - Horo grimaced as weird mental images began flowing in his mind - "Besides, my heart already belongs to someone else." _Two, to be exact_, Yoh thought to himself.

Horo blinked at his friend, before shaking his head in disbelief, "I _still_ don't understand why you could fall for someone like Anna, though."

Yoh frowned at Horo not getting the hint.

* * *

><p><strong>Weird intro chapter is weird. xD Just wanted to introduce the four main characters, the masquerade party, and Yoh's.. sexual orientation. Turned out to be longer than I thought! xD<strong>

**Anyway, ta-da! My very first Shaman King multi-chapter fic! Thanks to SK-fan7 for inspiring me to write this! Wahahahahahahh, now I can waste my time planning and writing as much as I want!**

**I apologise if this is a really weird intro. I think it's weird. Idek. And can you try to guess who are the two people Yoh is crushing on? It's not very hard, as both of them have been introduced in this very chapter. :P By the way, Yoh's not _really_ gay, he's actually bi. It's just Horo being blunt. :| And yes, all characters are very OOC in here, especially Anna. I never liked Anna and I always thought that if she was just a tad bit nicer, then maybe she would be a favourite. I can't really say I hate her, but I can't say I like her, either.**

**Also, if any of you guys have noticed already, there is a link to my blog on my profile! Details of the blog have been typed right next to the link, so I won't repeat myself here. Do check it if you wish; I'm not really forcing you to. xD**

**Oh, yes! The reason why I chose Hao to be a volleyball player is because.. football is too mainstream. xD It doesn't seem to fit Hao. I wanted to make him a soccer player, but the thought of Hao jumping and that teasing glimpse of his abs when his shirt is being pulled up in the process (like when he raises his arms and his shirt gets pulled up just a little?) made me go crazy. So I changed from soccer to basketball, but basketball doesn't fit Hao either. Besides, I want to add a beach scene in this fic and volleyball seems just like the perfect sport!**

**Well, I don't want this note to be long, so I'll end it here. Till next time!**

**- A**


	2. Consternation

**. Consternation .**

The party was less than thirty days away. It was finally the weekend, and most of the students of Shinra Academy have already started to get ready for the party. Money was being forked out of wallets and piggybanks at lightning speed, but the costumes and such were hastily decreasing in numbers, too!

Like most students, Yoh and Horo have decided to go the nearby Funbari Hill Mall to get their costumes, and the like. They looked at the various stores as they stepped into the mall building, trying not to get lost in the bustling crowd.

"Sooo," Horo began. "Where do you think we should start?"

"Let's go with the obvious," Yoh replied. "Many people would be able to recognize us by our hair."

Horo nodded, "Then let's go get some hairspray."

The two boys made their way to the nearest salon, which was - surprisingly - not as crowded as they had thought it to be. After several minutes of pondering and arguing, Yoh finally agreed to purchase a small can of yellow hairspray, while Horo got some black hairspray. They weren't very cheap, which was probably the reason why the salon wasn't crowded in the first place, but the both managed to afford a small can each, and that was all that mattered; they didn't need so much. Besides, this was only temporary.

"So what do you plan on wearing for the party?" Horo asked as the both of them exited the store.

"Hmm," Yoh pondered. "A tux would be nice.. Wouldn't want to look ridiculously stupid at the party."

Horo arched a brow, "Isn't that the whole point of this party?"

"_You're_ the one who's going to look stupid.."

The both of them took a quick tour around the mall, entering every costume store they came across. Horo found the whole excursion to be extremely boring, and he still found it unacceptable that his friend, Yoh, didn't mind doing the shopping at all; Yoh said it was due to him being dragged by his mother to go shopping with her all the time, but Horo began to question if Yoh's mother was the real reason why Yoh was so feminine in the first place.

Meanwhile, an older brunette, along with a blonde, stepped into another neighbourhood mall; the stuff being sold at Shinra Mall was far more expensive, thus it didn't turn out to be as crowded as Funbari Hill Mall. The brunette scanned the whole mall in utter disgust and began, "Can someone _please_ tell me why we're here when the party is just a little bit more than three weeks away?"

"_Because_," Anna replied, seeing as she was the only person who listened to Hao. "If we decide to buy our stuff later, then all the good stuff will be _gone_!" Anna waved her hands frantically in front of her face as she emphasized the last word. This made Hao widen his eyes and grimace in even more disgust; he didn't know Anna had such a feminine side. He knew her as an extremely violent person, and he never recalled seeing her hanging out with other girls.

"Oh... _kay_...," Hao began to roll his eyes. "Then why must I come along with you on your _shopping spree_?"

"Because I know you won't even bother to put in effort to dress yourself for the party." Anna smirked and folded her arms, as if pondering over something, while Hao nodded meekly to agree on how true that line was. "That's why I just thought of an idea..."

Hao furrowed his eyebrows, clearly not amused at Anna's way of thinking, "What.. do you mean?"

"Well, Hao, you _are_ aware of your long, dark hair, am I right? So I was thinking...,"Anna's smirk slowly developed into a sly grin.

Hao widened his eyes and shook his head frantically, "Oh, _no way_, Anna. _Nononononono._ Don't. I won't let you! Wha - no, stop!"

Sadly, for the reluctant Asakura, Anna was already dragging him to the nearest clothing store for teen girls. Several passers-by were amused at the sight of a petite girl dragging a screaming brunette (they couldn't tell if it was a girl or a guy) down the mall corridor. Even the sales girls of the store couldn't help but giggle at the sight of a boy wearing some of their best dresses. Well._.. how_ did they know it was a boy? Because Anna had forcefully pulled out Hao's clothes in the store (yes, she avoided the changing rooms and said they were useless to real gentlemen; thankfully she didn't see a need to pull out his pants!) and threatened him to wear the dresses. Every time Hao refused, he received a piercing slap on his right cheek, which happened so many times, his cheek had already gone numb in less than thirty seconds.

Finally, after half an hour of torture (it wasn't supposed to take that long; all the dresses looked so good on Hao, Anna had a hard time choosing!), Anna finally forked out the money to purchase the lustrous princess dress (which, much to Hao's disgust, came along with a tiara!) for her friend.

"Okay! Okay!" Hao began rambling as the two of them walked out of the store. He tried to ignore the constant giggles the sales girls were giving even after the whole dress extravaganza. "We've got the dress, alright! Now what?"

"The only problem right now is your eyes," Anna pondered. "People will be able to recognize you, even from miles away, if you don't do something about those eyes of yours."

Fear was clearly written all over Hao's face, "So you're going to make me wear glasses?"

Anna frowned, "No, you'll look ridiculous!" - this brought forth a deep sigh from the brunette - "The next best thing would be contacts." Anna stared back at the male who simply remained silent. Something about his blank expression made the girl sigh, "Yes, Hao, you get to choose the colour this time."

* * *

><p>School would go on as usual that following week, despite all the frantic shopping that was done over the weekend. No one was looking forward to the boring lectures and notes-writing that was to be done for the next long, five days. It was going to be a long time until the masquerade party.<p>

On the first day of school that week, Horo came to school earlier than usual. He was alone, as he had just received a phone call from Yoh's mother earlier, claiming her child was too sick to even get out of bed. Knowing he has to endure six whole hours of loneliness, he sighed and strolled his way to his classroom.

Noticing a certain yellow-haired girl reading a book alone in the corner of the classroom, Horo decided to talk to her to kill time. When he walked up to the desk, the girl paid no attention to him, so Horo decided to speak up, "Sooo... are you two dating?"

Anna raised a brow at him, so Horo added, "You and Hao."

Anna sighed and placed her book down. "Don't be silly," she said, irritated. "Stop asking me such questions."

"But why are you two always hanging out together?"

"Do you have a problem with that?"

Horo shuddered at the cold reply he received from the blonde. "No, not really..," he muttered.

Anna furrowed her eyebrows, "Is Yoh making you ask all these?"

Horo shook his head, "Nah, just curious..."

"I realised he's been paying a lot more attention to both me and Hao," the girl added. "I thought you knew the reason why."

"Well, he did mention about you being his best friend and all."

Anna shrugged and focused her gaze on something else.

"Speaking of which," Horo added. "Where's Hao? Don't you spend your mornings with him all the time?"

"He claimed he was sick and couldn't come to school," Anna explained plainly, but Horo noticed the slight curl forming at the edge of her lips. "I suspect he's just too scared to face me after all that shopping we did last weekend."

"What a coincidence," Horo grinned. "Yoh and I went shopping last weekend to get ready for the party. I received a call from his mother this morning, saying he just caught a cold. I can't tell if he's faking it or not."

Anna chuckled before Horo could add, "Have you done your Math homework? Do you mind if I copied some of your work?" The male teen couldn't help it. He had always relied on Yoh to finish his homework so he could avoid getting detention after school. But since Yoh was absent, Horo had no choice but to copy from the next smartest person he knew.

Anna twitched, "Is this the _real_ reason why you came up to talk to me in the first place?" Horo shrugged, but was elated to watch as Anna reluctantly pulled out her Math assignment from her bookcase and threw it onto her desk for him.

Later that afternoon, Horo had decided to pass his friend his assignments. He walked briskly to the Asakura household, holding on to a few sheets of assignments that belonged to his friend.

After exchanging greetings with the elders in the household, Horo was led to Yoh's room upstairs. Eventually, Horo found his brunette friend lying in bed, covered in several bed sheets. There were countless empty tissue boxes lying all around the room. Despite all the mess, Yoh's pale face still managed to stand out. Horo was secretly amused by the sickly look on Yoh's face, but he tried hard not to laugh or even smile at that, for the fear of being hated by his best friend.

"Hey," Yoh mumbled and waved weakly at the bluenette.

Horo nodded back as a greeting and sat beside Yoh on the bed. "How are you feeling?" he asked.

Yoh shook his head, "Not very good. It hurts to even breathe, and every time I sneeze, it feels like every cell in my body is about to explode." Yoh sniffed. "I don't think I'm well enough to go to school tomorrow."

"At least I know you're not faking it," Horo said. He then proceeded to explain about how Anna thought that Hao was faking his illness because he was too ashamed to face her in front of the whole school.

Upon hearing those words, Yoh widened his eyes in disbelief, "Y-you actually talked to her...?"

Horo shrugged, "She seems.. alright. I still don't understand why you like her so much, though."

Yoh averted his gaze from his friend to avoid replying him. Not that he wanted to; he barely had any energy left to even move his head. Horo placed a small stack of sheets on the bed, next to Yoh, and said, "Do these only when you start to feel better." He then got to his feet. "I have to go."

Yoh frowned, "Already? Is something going on?"

"I've got a special appointment," Horo's lips began to form a grin. "You could say it's going to be more like a... a _date_."

"You? On a date? I can't believe it."

"Neither can I! Now I gotta go - can't leave the girl waiting forever!" Yoh watched as his friend jogged excitedly out of the room. He then turned to look at his assignments on the bed, and sighed. _What luck. His friend now has a girlfriend while he's stuck here, feeling sick and still having boring assignments to do_.

Horo stepped out of the Asakura household and turned to smile at Anna, who had been waiting for him the whole time just outside the gate. Anna arched a brow upon seeing his cheeky grin, "What's with that stupid look on your face?"

"Hm? Oh, it's nothing..," Horo laughed nervously. "C'mon, I promised to treat you for a meal, remember?"

Anna sighed, "Whatever." The two of them proceeded to walk to the nearest fast-food outlet. "Remember you're only doing this for me just because I let you copy my work," the girl added.

Horo rolled his eyes, _"Yeah_,_ yeah_.. Maybe I could let you do my assignments and I could treat you for lunch everyday!" The bluenette guffawed at his last line whereas Anna simply remained silent.

* * *

><p>"<em>Horo's in a relationship with Anna? Since when<em>?"

Yoh thought aloud as he watched the couple walk off together. He was leaning out of the window of his room, careful not to let said couple notice him. He was clearly baffled by the peculiar sight before him.

Yoh sighed and laid back on his bed as he thought about the both of them. He was way beyond confused, and the migraine that came along with his confusion was not helping him at all.

"Maybe the reason why he asked me if I liked _her_ was because he was Anna's boyfriend all along...?" Yoh continued, staring blankly at the ceiling. "Maybe that's why Anna said she wasn't dating Hao?

"But all this time, Horo and Anna never paid much attention to each other.. Were they trying to hide it from me? What's going on...?"

Yoh sighed as he turned in his bed and covered his head with a pillow. He closed his eyes and tried to drift off to sleep, slowly emptying his mind of disturbing thoughts. He needed a rest so badly.

* * *

><p>The following morning, Horo came to school earlier than usual once again after learning that Yoh was still unwell. He advanced to his classroom to find Anna alone again, reading her book quietly in the corner. Elated at the sight of the blonde, Horo grinned and decided to talk to her.<p>

"Morning!" he greeted as he walked up to the girl's desk, only to be ignored by her.

Horo rolled his eyes, "_Gee_, you're nice to me one day and you're treating me like a complete stranger the next? That's _very_ nice of you."

Anna paused in her reading and looked up to glare at the male. "I wasn't ignoring you," she said, annoyed. "I was simply wondering why you still have the guts to talk to me."

"What's wrong with that? Yoh isn't coming today–"

"Hao is," Anna interrupted. As if by cue, as soon as Anna had said that, excited cheers and deafening squeals could be heard from the hallway. It gradually got louder and louder and Horo pictured Hao making his way to their classroom.

He frowned, "So you're going to spend the whole day with him, huh?"

"Sort of," Anna shrugged. "But tell you what - I can sneak up to the roof during lunch and we can have our lunch together up there. If it makes you feel better."

The thought of having lunch together with such an attractive and intelligent girl made Horo feel a fluttering sensation in his stomach, but even so, lunch was only 45 minutes long, and that isn't a lot of time to him. "Sure," he replied, clearly showing off his disappointment.

"And to make up for not being able to hang out with you today," Anna added. "You can come to my house after school and I'll cook up a meal for you."

Horo's face lit up, "For real?"

Anna nodded, "Promise. Now get going before Hao finds me talking to you!"

Horo grinned and advanced to his seat, but not before he yelled at the girl, "You promised!". At that moment, Hao stepped into the classroom and smiled at the blonde.

* * *

><p>The rest of the morning went on as usual, what with teachers lecturing and nagging and screaming at their students and the school bell haunting their minds. The only period Horo and Anna looked forward to was lunch, which eventually came, after waiting for what seemed like 500 years. When the bell rang indicating that it was time for lunch, Horo grabbed his lunch set (which he brings only when Yoh is absent) and dashed to the roof.<p>

For Anna, however, it wasn't so easy. Because she hanged out with Hao almost all the time, she had become part of the '_popular_' group, and she thought that almost every kid in that group were either born stupid or dropped on the head as babies. They never stopped babbling, and school was the last thing they had in their minds. Not that Anna liked school, but she was the kind who thought education was most important. It took her nearly ten minutes to sneak away from her group of 'friends' and ran as fast as she could to the roof to avoid being caught by them. _They won't notice that she's gone, anyway_.

After climbing up the ladder that led to the roof, Anna found the bluenette sitting cross-legged in the center. His back was facing her, so he had no clue that the girl had just reached the roof. Tightening her grip on her lunch box, Anna quickly made her way to the boy and greeted, "Hey." She proceeded to sit right next to him afterwards.

Horo stared blankly at her. "I was just about to start eating...," he muttered. "I thought you weren't coming."

"It's hard to escape from a group full of drunks," Anna explained, before punching Horo hard in the face. "And _where_ are your manners? Any gentleman should know better than to start eating before a woman!"

As time passed, the two eventually got to know more about each other, and sure enough, the both of them were having their lunch happily. They talked about all kinds of things and laughed. They were having so much fun together that they were oblivious to the person that was climbing up the ladder behind them. Said person flicked some strands of his dark hair off his face and squinted his eyes to take a closer look at the couple before him. He was thankful he was alone at the moment, and all his friends and fans had no idea that he was standing on the ladder to the roof. The sight before him was amusing to see but at the same time, he also thought it was... well, to put it bluntly, _disgusting_.

Hao frowned at the sight of seeing his best friend - Anna - laughing loudly beside the bluenette.

* * *

><p><strong>The second chapter is finally out! *throws confetti in the air to celebrate* Once again, this is a really weird chapter. I'm sure most of you already know how Hao will look like at the party. Do you guys like the ending? xD I have to admit, though - Anna is going to be OOC throughout the entire series. And about her relationship with Horo... well, we'll just have to read the future chapters to learn more about it. :)<strong>

**This chapter turned out longer than I thought, and I really enjoyed planning this one! Heck, this chapter is six pages long in my notebook! xD I'm really excited for the next chapter; I've just finished planning it and I think it's going to be my most favourite one (no, wait, scratch that - the chapter about the party will be my most favourite!). Right now, I'm in the midst of planning the fifth chapter, and I'm sad to say it's going to turn out to be pretty boring.. I'll try my best to change it and make it as exciting as I can!**

**Also, I forgot to mention in the last chapter; Yoh and Hao are, in no way, related in this story! Not one bit! They just have the same surnames, but that's pretty common, no? xP**

**Now I'm going to panic because I only have four days left to write a birthday fic for Silva. *panics***

**- A**


	3. The Beginning Of Something New

**. The Beginning of Something New .**

Yoh sighed and stared up at the ceiling above him, as he laid lazily in bed. It was nearly evening, and school was supposed to end hours ago. He began to wonder why his friend, Horo, hadn't come to pay him a visit yet. Even if he didn't deem it necessary, Yoh was certain there _had_ to be some assignments for him to do. If that was so, why hadn't Horo come to pass him his assignments? Was he made to stay back for a trivial matter? What was much more important than leaving a best friend alone and then getting him in trouble for not doing his assignments?

Just then, Yoh hears some feminine squeals and voices of his elders coming from downstairs. It was so sudden, it nearly made him jump in shock. He began to wonder why his relatives were making so much noise, but came to the conclusion that perhaps Horo had finally come to pay him a visit. _Strange_, no one ever made such a fuss whenever Horo came to the house. Not giving it much thought thereafter, Yoh obliged himself to sit up in bed and wait for his friend.

He heard slow footsteps coming from the stairs, followed by his mother's voice.

"_His room is in here. I have to apologise in advance if it happens to be in a mess_."

Yoh furrowed his eyebrows; why was his mother saying such things to Horo? His friend never minded if his room was in a mess or not. Perhaps this visitor _wasn't_ Horo? Perhaps it was someone else? If so, _who_? Yoh could feel a fluttering sensation building up in the pits of his stomach, but he simply remained in his bed, staring at the door just so he would be able to see the face of his new, mystery visitor. _Any second now_...

"Yoh?"

Yoh widened his eyes. For a moment there, he thought he was going to pass out - or even worse, _die_ - because he was sure his heart had literally skipped a beat. Not only because of the voice he just heard, but also because of the identity of his 'mystery' visitor.

He was none other than Asakura Hao.

"Yoh?" the older brunette called out again. He waved his hand in front of Yoh's face, bringing him back to his senses. Both stared at each other blankly, before the elder of the two finally spoke up, "You know who I am, right?"

Yoh nodded meekly, and couldn't help but ask, "What about me? Do you know who _I_ am?"

"Well, you're from Anna's class," Hao replied plainly.

_At least he knows I exist._ Yoh nodded and averted his gaze from the star as Hao advanced forward to sit beside him on the bed. Yoh tried to steady his breathing, and even his heart rate, when the elder proceeded to place a hand on his forehead to check his temperature. Yoh could do nothing more than to just stare at Hao as a concerned look took over the plain features on his face. _Shit_, he thought. _Don't do anything stupid, Yoh_!

"Are you feeling any better?" Hao asked, snapping Yoh right out of his chain of thoughts once again.

Yoh nodded, though he felt a slight tint of heat creeping up his face. "I-I suppose so," he mutterred. "I might actually be able to come to school tomorrow." The brunette then tilted his head at Hao. "How come _you're_ here?"

Hao sighed, "That friend of yours sort of ditched you and ran off with Anna. I found this stack of papers on his table when I entered the classroom to find her. I figured they were for you, since your friend wrote your name on them. Turned out Anna, too, ditched me for your friend."

Hao gently placed a few sheets of papers right next to Yoh's right hand on the bed. Hao's palm still remained in its place, and Yoh couldn't help but notice that both their hands were only centimetres apart from each other. Something about this tingled the younger brunette on the inside, but Yoh knew better than to lose his self-control.

Trying his best to brush aside this odd feeling, Yoh dropped his voice to a whisper and asked, "Is it true?"

"Hm?" Hao arched a brow.

"_That Horo and Anna are dating_?"

Hao remained silent. He was surprised to hear those words, albeit the blank expression on his face still remained. _Horo must be the name of Yoh's friend_. He then recalled about the peculiar sight he came across on the school roof earlier that morning, but he decided not to mention anything about it. "I didn't know Anna was interested in such lackies...," he muttered, but it was more to himself than the other male.

Yoh raised a brow, but before he could say anything, Hao added, "I'm not calling _you_ a lackey."

Yoh laughed quietly, but as his laughter died, the both of them found themselves in deafening silence, for the first time. '_Awkward_' was clearly written all over the place. Yoh never liked awkward silences one bit, especially when Hao was around, so he decided to speak up. Besides, what other opportunities are there for a 'lackey' like him to be able to have a proper conversation with the school's star and hero, _Asakura Hao_? If he wanted to feel special, this would be his only chance to do so.

"Uhm," he began. His weird start did not at all help ease the awkwardness the both were feeling at that point of time. "D-don't you usually go out with your, uh, _friends_?"

Hao remained silent for a while, as if pondering over something, before he proceeded to answer, "I don't really like them. All they ever think about is partying, getting wasted and..." Hao took a deep breath, but after that, his voice was no more than just a whisper, "_Sex_."

"I-I see...," Yoh nodded meekly, but refused to say anymore.

Hao then got to his feet hastily and announced, "I really should go now. You need to get better as soon as possible, after all"

You frowned, "So you can hang out with Anna again, right?"

Hao turned to face the brunette, before flashing him a friendly smile, "Nah. It's just that I like you, Yoh. You're really interesting.

"Next time, we should have a meal together," the teen added as he swiftly walked out of the room and made his way down the stairs. Yoh simply stared at the door, which was still left open. _What could he say_? He was just told by the one and only _Asakura Hao_ that he liked him. But wait - exactly _what_ did he mean by 'like'? Surely he couldn't have such affectionate feeling towards a lackey like him when they've only just started talking. Yoh groaned; Hao was really attractive for a teenage boy and all, but _why must every attractive person be so mysterious_?

He laid back in his bed and once again, covered his face with a massive pillow.

* * *

><p>The following morning, Yoh was finally well enough to go to school. With his texts and calls being ignored by his best friend, Yoh had no choice but to walk to school alone. He bid his relatives goodbye as they exchanged blessings, before finally making his way to Shinra Academy.<p>

When he finally stepped into his classroom, the first thing he spotted was his best friend, Horo, giving his newfround friend a teasing nudge, as they both laughed cheerfully. Yoh frowned as he begins to make his way to his own desk, in which he was being completely ignored by the two who were enjoying themselves in the corner. Unfortunately, for the Asakura, he had to endure two more hours of pure loneliness during lessons; his friend paid very little attention to him. Very often, Yoh would catch Horo grinning at Anna, who would sometimes grin back at him (_sometimes_!).

It was until lunch time that Yoh got himself some attention. While his friend ran out of the class with the blonde, Yoh stayed in his seat and fished out his lunch set from his bookcase. Having lunch alone in class was much better than being completely ignored by those two, anyway. He balefully took out the lid of his lunch set and stared at the bento his mother had prepared for him earlier that morning; suddenly, it didn't seem so appetizing.

"You're alone too, huh?"

Yoh looked up from his seat to find the school's star standing right before him. The star greeted him with a warm smile, whereas Yoh simply continued staring.

"What?" Hao asked. "I said we should have a meal together, remember?" The elder of the two dragged a chair over and chose to sit across the table, so he would be facing Yoh. He proceeded to open the lid of his lunch set, and smiled upon the sight of sixteen balls of takoyaki, which have been arranged neatly in the lunch set.

"Let's eat, shall we?" Hao invited, grinning at Yoh. Yoh merely nodded. The both of them picked up their chopsticks and began consuming their lunches. Occasionally, Hao would take a small portion of Yoh's lunch and eat it, before complimenting on his mother's cooking. Yoh didn't mind this at all, but somehow he couldn't bring himself to do the same to Hao. _He just couldn't_.

In the midst of eating their meals, Yoh leaned forward, looked around, before whispering to Hao, "Are you close to Anna?"

Hao paused in the process of chewing his food and stared at the younger blankly, before answering with his mouth full, "Quite. Why do you ask?"

Yoh blushed slightly, but he didn't know why. "It's nothing..," he muttered. "Well.. Anna has been my best friend since elementary school, but ever since she met you, she's been dying to get closer to you, so she stopped hanging out with me—"

"—and then you met Hollow, right?" Hao finished for him.

Yoh blinked, "Well, yeah, a-and his name is Horo... Actually, Horoke— never mind..."

Hao swallowed his food and gave himself a few moments to settle down, before getting into a small, laughing fit. Confused, Yoh tilted his head, "What's so funny?"

Hao shook his head as his laughter began to die slowly, "I just got reminded of something.."

_It must be about something personal if he's not going to tell me about it_, Yoh thought to himself, thus refusing to say anymore. The both of them continued having their lunch, but this time, in silence.

Lessons for the rest of the day were as per normal, and Yoh found himself wishing he was still having lunch with Hao. Even though the silence that always followed was the most uncomfortable one he had ever encountered, he enjoyed having Hao's company. It was different from being around a person who pretends to have ADD (actually, Yoh didn't know if Horo was just pretending or not) all the time; Hao was _different_. Yoh enjoyed watching his every move. Yoh liked it when he talked; he liked listening to his somewhat child-like and prepubescent voice. He envied Hao for being able to smile all the time, in any situation. _What made him so special_?

When school was finally over, students bolt out of their classrooms and tried to leave the campus as quickly as they could. Yoh wasn't one of them; he was the kind who liked to take things easy.

After packing all his stuff into his tiny bookcase, he strolled out of his classroom and proceeded to exit through the main gate. On the way there, he heard a familiar voice calling out his name from behind. It turned out that his friend, Horo, was trying to catch up with him.

"Did you... did you have to leave so fast?" Horo panted. Yoh simply arched a brow.

"I thought you were the one who preferred to leave school early," he replied as he continued to walk out the school gate. His friend followed closely behind.

"_Uuuhhmm_...," the bluenette sighed and scratched the back of his neck nervously. "Sorry for, uh.. not talking to you and... stuff..."

"It's okay," Yoh said, as he brought forth a smile. _At least I got to talk to Hao_.

"Let me guess...," the brunette added, narrowing his eyes playfully at Horo. "You're going somewhere with your '_girlfriend_' after this, am I right?"

Horo laughed once again, "Yeeaaahh... if you don't mind..."

Yoh shook his head, "Go on. I don't mind at all."

"Thanks, dude!" Horo flashed his friend a grin before he sped off and disappeared in the crowd before him, leaving the brunette alone to just watch him.

"You know, if you're upset with him, just tell 'im."

Yoh sighed, "Nah, I can't just say that to him bluntly. Besides, he's my friend and— w-wait..." Yoh turned around, only to find another fellow brunette standing right behind him. He still wore the friendly smile on his face, like he always did when he was around Yoh.

"H-Hao!" Yoh gasped.

"Yo!" Hao greeted as he waved at the teen before him.

"Stop sneaking up on me randomly like that!"

Hao giggled, "Sorry, but I can't help it." He began walking alongside his new friend. "I'm glad to see you're doing well."

Yoh averted his gaze from the other Asakura, trying as best as he could to hide the blush that was beginning to form on his face, "Wh-why are you following me?"

"For fun."

Yoh felt even more heat creeping up his cheeks, "Are you.. accompanying me?"

Hao remained silent at first, then he replied, "Sort of. I saw how that lackey ditched you again. How can you still be friends with him?"

"When Anna ditched me for you, he stuck with me and made sure I never felt lonely," Yoh explained.

For a second, Yoh swore he just spotted a frown on the elder's face, but when he blinked, it was no longer there. It must have been replaced by the star's signature blank expression, which he must have spent a long time mastering. "Do you know the reason for his actions?" he pondered.

Yoh began to think before shaking his head, "No, but I don't see the need to. Why should I know? As long as I'm still friends with him, then everything will be fine."

Amused, Hao smiled at Yoh's reply, before getting into yet another laughing fit. Thinking that he just got reminded of something else, Yoh shrugged and ignored his mocking laughter.

The two boys continued to walk until they have finally reached the Asakura household. They stopped just by the gate.

"I'm here already," Yoh informed the other male. "You can go now."

"Enjoyed my company?" Hao asked playfully, the innocent smile present once again on his face.

"...S-sort of, yes..," Yoh averted his gaze from his friend once again to avoid revealing his blush. "Though I didn't quite enjoy the silence between us just now..."

Hao chuckled, "Then next time we should talk more."

Both remained oddly silent before Yoh spoke up, "I-I'll see you, then...!"

"Sure." Hao nodded and patted Yoh's shoulder lightly, "Call me up if you ever need my company again, 'kay?"

Yoh nodded and entered his house.

* * *

><p>"So, exactly <em>where<em> are you taking me?"

"Don't worry. It's really close to the school."

The bluenette and blonde were now taking a stroll in the nearby park, which has been deserted for a fairly long amount of time, because of the trees that surrounded the area and gave it a gloomy atmosphere. Because of this, it was a popular spot for lovers, but the couple we're supposed to focus on looked and behaved _nothing_ like lovers.

The two continued to walk for a bit longer, walking past the ixora plants and spider lilies. The whole place looked too _dead_ to be filled with such bright-coloured flowers.

"I, uhh," Horo began. He cleared his throat, hoping it would get rid of the uneasy feeling that was residing in his abdomen. "I actually wanted to talk to you about _Hao_."

"I knew it," Anna sighed.

"Wait, listen to me first..," Horo pleaded. "Do you.. do you like him?"

"Enough with the questions. I'm going home."

"Just answer this one question!" Horo begged. He clasped both his hands together, tilted his head and pouted, trying his best to, well, _seduce_ her (sort of) into agreeing with him. Anna's face softened upon seeing him like this; he looked just as ridiculous _and_ adorable as a puppy! Anna didn't know what to think of this; should she be whining over the bluenette's somewhat pathetic look, or should she feel disgusted that she was actually feeling this way?

"Well...," Anna sighed, giving in to the boy. "I _do_ like him more than a friend, but there's no way I can have him.."

Horo arched a brow, "Why not? Because he's popular? Because he has so many admirers?"

Anna shook her head, "That's not it."

"But just think about it; you could be the most popular girl in the campus if you hooked up with him. You could a hell lot of respect from everyone, just like Hao—"

"I can't have Hao because he doesn't fancy me!" Anna snapped.

Horo blinked at the blonde as a thrilling chill ran down his spine. With just one final question haunting his mind, he questioned, "Does he like someone else?"

Anna nodded, "I don't know who he is, though."

Horo furrowed his eyebrows, "_He_?"

It was Anna's turn to stare blankly at the male. "You didn't know?" she asked, surprised. "Hao's gay."

* * *

><p><strong>And here, I present you, the third chapter of Masquerade. *bows* I think the only part I liked about this chapter was the beginning, when Yoh finally gets to speak to Hao. xD Also, it was in the midst of planning this chapter that made me realise how old-fashioned I am. I guess that's just how Asians are like, huh? xD<strong>

**I wish I had a friend like Hao; you know, just someone who would walk me home from school everyday? It would be nice. Usually, I'm the one who accompany my friends, not the other way round! Not only that, I'm also the one who asks them stuff like, "Enjoyed my company?". There must be something wrong with me, I'm sure of it!**

**Allow me to just rant about my personal problem here. You are free to skip this entire paragraph and resume on the next one. Here I go; uhm, my parents are divorced, and I'm the youngest in the family (excluding my step siblings, seeing as my father remarried). My elder brother and I have never had a proper conversation for over six years. Same goes for my parents because whenever we talk, we end up arguing over trivial matters. Anyway, today my mother, brother and I were 'spending time together', and I actually realised for the first time how close my brother and mother were. And I'm just, like, in the middle. :| I'm so jealous; why can't I have a parent-child relationship like that? :(**

**On the brighter side, I have a huuuuge feeling you guys are going to enjoy the next chapter! :D And I'm so glad people are actually liking this fic. I thought it might turn out bad. xD I apologise if you think it is, but I'll try my best to make it more exciting! Probably in the later chapters... like, the tenth chapter or so. I have to keep in mind that the party is only less than three weeks away, after all! And I'm in the midst of planning the sixth chapter - already there are less than twenty days by then until the party! *panics because her planning is failing but also because she's getting nearer to the chapter about the party where she's finally allowed to write lots of fluffy stuff between you-know-whos***

**Hehehehehh. Anyway I've decided to add in a little bit of something in my author's notes, and that is Review Replies! I forgot to do this the last chapter, pardon me. xD Alright, on to the point:**

_**Anonymous **_**- Glad you do! Thanks!**

_**Nyeh**_** - **** I'm glad it does! And I will, thanks!**

_**Yoah Asakura**_** - That's pleasing to hear. xD I will, thank you very much!**

_**complicatedmind21**_** - Haha, that was what I wanted to do initially, but I changed my mind in the last minute. :P And Yoh's not gay, he's actually bi. I was only planning to reveal this until a few chapters later, but I didn't want anyone to get the wrong idea.**

_**SK-fan7**_** - I call everything weird. xD Awh! D: I hope you get well soon, dear! And I'm ready for anything.**

_**RoseblossomWarrior**_** - You have no idea just how much I'm in love with your username. xD I was getting kinda tired of seeing everyone 'abusing' Anna's character and making her... more violent than she already is, and besides, Anna's the hardest character for me to write. xD I didn't plan for her to be OOC in this fic, but it just.. happened. So I left it like that. I'll turn her back to normal though, at the very last chapter of this fic. :3 *shot***

_**H And N**_** - Y-you...! *points* You can speak Mandarin! Th-that's... AMAZING! Too bad I only know very basic words and phrases, like the one you used in your reviews.. And anyway, thanks a lot for your comments! They really motivated me. 83 It's because of readers like you that give me the joy in writing. Thanks, again!**

**Aaaaand I believe that's all. Thanks for all those who reviewed! Now I'm off to write the next chapter. Till next time!**

**- A**


	4. Turning Point

**. Turning Point .**

Horo blinked, "Wh-what?"

Anna tilted her head and narrowed her gaze at the boy, "I thought everyone knew?"

"No way! I had no idea!"

Anna chuckled, thinking it will lighten the mood, "Sucks to be a slowpoke like you."

Horo tried to ignore the blonde's insult and this time, put on a sober expression, "So, who do you think he likes?"

"Hm?"

"Hao, I mean."

Anna gazed up at the sky for a while, as if pondering over something, before turning back to the bluenette and shrugging, "He's always mentioning about this old friend of his, so I'm assuming he's crushing on 'im."

Horo furrowed his eyebrows, "Hao having a crush? I can't imagine that..."

"Well, it's called a crush when the person you like doesn't know about it, right?" Anna queried.

"True..," said Horo. "So Hao has his shy side, after all..."

"Well, the person he likes is - like I said - an old friend of his. We don't even know when was the last time they spoke to each other." Anna then came to an abrupt stop and arched a brow at the boy, "Yoh's gay too, isn't he?"

Horo widened his eyes, "How did you—"

"—I overheard your conversation the other day," Anna explained. "I also heard you saying that he liked me several times."

Horo scratched the back of his neck and laughed nervously, "Ah, about that..."

"It's not surprising, seeing as we used to be friends," Anna shrugged. "And you're wrong about him being gay. When someone likes both females _and_ males, it makes him bi."

"Yeah, yeah...," Horo mumbled, rolling his eyes.

"I have to tell him that I can't have him, though..," Anna sighed.

It was Horo's turn to arch a brow, "Why is that?"

"There's someone else my heart belongs to. Don't even bother asking me who it is," Anna shot Horo a cold glare before he could say another word. For a second, Horo felt a thrilling chill run down his spine, and he swore the atmosphere around them just got darker and gloomier.

"A-are you going to, uh, 'reject' him tomorrow?" asked Horo, after a long moment of frightening silence.

"The sooner, the better."

* * *

><p>Yoh sighed upon stepping into the school building. How many days has it been already? Ever since he got sick, his best friend has been spending more and more time with the girl. Was having a girlfriend <em>really<em> more important than having a best friend? Yoh pouted; he wished he had a girlfriend too. Or a boyfriend. Whichever was fine to him. He just wanted to have someone to be by his side at all times. He just wanted the relationship Horo and Anna were having, more than anything else.

As he walked into his classroom, he caught said couple staring at him and whispering to each other. Yoh frowned; _Gossip already? Or are they planning to hide something from me_? He shook his head and brushed the disturbing thoughts away as he made his way to his desk by the window. The couple then walked up to him quickly.

"Morning," Yoh said lazily upon seeing them.

Both Anna and Horo greeted back. Anna then gave Horo a hard nudge in the stomach, and Horo began, "Uhh, Yoh, we have something to say to you. ...Sorta."

Yoh arched a brow as he watched Horo nudge his 'girlfriend' back. "Well...," Anna spoke up, taking in a deep breath as she did. "So I've heard that you've somehow developed a crush on me, and—"

Yoh widened his eyes, but he couldn't help but blush, "What? _No_! Usui Horokeu, _what did you tell her_?" The brunette shot his friend a cold glare, which Horo swore was even scarier than Anna's. However, Anna was oblivious to Yoh's comments, so before any of the two boys could do anything, she had already got to the point:

"I just wanted to tell you that I sorta can't—"

"Whoawhoawhoa, _no_!" Yoh almost yelled. "I-I don't like you, Anna!"

Anna stopped, and then she and Horo blinked and responded in unison, "What?"

"I don't like you!" Yoh repeated. "I mean, you're my friend and all, but I don't fancy you. Not the way that you think I do!"

Anna shook her head, "But I've always noticed you looking at me and Hao all the time.."

"Just because I look at you both doesn't mean I like y— ...you...," as his voice trailed off, Yoh cupped his mouth with both his hands. As if the both got the hint, Anna and Horo widened their eyes as well.

"Y-you mean..."

"Yoh..," Anna called out. "Are you telling us that you like—"

"Good morning!"

Fangirl squeals and deafening shrieks began to fill the entire classroom, as the three teens slowly turned to see who had turn up at the doorway.

"Speak of the devil," Horo grumbled, frowning.

"_Please don't tell him_," Yoh whispered to his friends as he clasped both his palms together and tilted his head in a begging manner.

* * *

><p>Four hours passed and it was finally time for lunch. Oh, how relieving it was to hear the school bell at twelve. Most students immediately dashed out with their lunch sets upon hearing the bell. Of course, Horo and Anna were no exception, but this time, they brought a confused brunette along with them. They dragged him until they were outside their classrooms and tried to think of something to say.<p>

"I-I don't even know how to begin," Anna blabbered, making random hand motions to emphasize on how confused she was. "So, you like Hao and—"

"—and you don't want us to tell him?" Horo finished. "Why is that?"

Yoh widened his eyes, "Are you crazy? He's going to hate me if he knows! There's no way I'm telling him!"

"B-but he likes men!" Anna replied.

Yoh couldn't say that he wasn't surprised by Anna's response, but nevertheless, he still shook his head, "So what if he does? How could the school's star and hero like someone like _me_?"

Both Anna and Horo turned to stare at each other, and remained silent. Then, as if on cue, another brunette made his appearance behind the couple. He gave off his usual, friendly smile. "Hey, there!"

"Hao!" Anna and Horo yelped in unison.

Yoh gasped slightly and averted his gaze from the star to hide his blush, but it didn't seem to help. Fortunately, for him, the other Asakura didn't notice.

"Yoh!" Hao called out. "I've been looking for you. We're supposed to have our lunch together, remember?"

Yoh laughed nervously, "That's right." He then gasped once again upon feeling a hand tightening its grasp around his wrist and being yanked by the elder. Hao briskly made his way back to the classroom, dragging Yoh along with him and leaving the other two teens alone. In the classroom, both Asakuras sat beside each other and took out their lunch sets.

"I noticed you've been avoiding me lately," Hao spoke up plainly, breaking the uncomfortable silence between them both. Yoh blinked as he began to recall about how he pretended to be busy that morning to avoid talking or even looking at the elder. A huge wave of remorse began flowing in Yoh's guts all of a sudden; he was going to lose his appetite for sure.

Hao continued, "I also noticed Horo and Anna are paying you a _lot_ of attention now." The brunette leaned in closer to the younger and narrowed his gaze at him, "Is something going on?"

Yoh began to panic, "N-no! _No_! Nothing's going on! I swear!"

Hao wasn't convinced, "Are you sure?"

"Of course! Y-you don't believe me?"

Hao continued to stare at Yoh for a while before leaning back in his seat and sighing deeply, "I find it hard to."

_Of course he wouldn't trust someone like me_..., Yoh thought to himself, frowning. "L-let's just have our lunch," Yoh said, fidgeting around to find his pair of chopsticks. As he did so, he swung his arm and accidentally knocks into Hao's tumbler (which acted as a water bottle), spilling water all over Hao's clothes and the floor. Yoh panicked even more, "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! I-I didn't mean to...!"

Knowing that his constant blabbering wasn't going to help change anything, said brunette bent down and outstretched his arm to help pick up Hao's now empty tumbler. Hao, too, did the same, but instead of picking up his tumbler, he gently grabbed Yoh's wrist to stop him from picking it up. Confused, Yoh looked up at the elder, whereas Hao simply returned him a smile "It's okay, you don't have to apologise," he said gently. "It's just an accident, after all."

Yoh could feel heat slowly creeping up his face when he was able to feel Hao's skin upon his very own, resulting in him being complete speechless.

Hao then proceeded to pick up his own tumbler. While doing so, Yoh finally got back to his senses. Then he noticed something about the other Asakura. "Wh-what about your clothes...?" he asked.

"It's okay. It's just water," Hao replied.

"I have a PE shirt in my bag right here," Yoh blurted out. "I can lend it to you if you want."

Hao furrowed his brows, "Won't you get scolded by the teacher for not wearing the proper attire during PE class?"

"That doesn't matter," said Yoh, shaking his head. "I can't just let you walk around in school in wet clothes." Something about that line sounded wrong, but Yoh shook the feeling away before it truly bothered him. As he did so, he slowly fished out his neatly folded PE shirt from his bookbag and passed it to Hao.

Hao laughed softly - it was Yoh's first time hearing him do so, and it made him melt on the inside - "Well, if you insist."

Yoh watched as the elder unbuttoned his uniform top and pulled it out, revealing his bare chest. Yoh scanned Hao's marvelous body and just about noticed on how muscular the other brunette was. He must have obtained those muscles from his constant volleyball training. Yoh also noticed a few scratches and bruises on him, but paid no further attention to them as he assumed that Hao either obtained them from his training, or Anna's random beatings.

It was only then that Yoh widened his eyes and felt even more heat creeping up his face.

Oblivious to Yoh's reactions, Hao swiftly put on the younger's PE shirt.

"H-how is it?" Yoh couldn't help asking.

"It's a little small, but it'll do."

Yoh averted his gaze from Hao's now covered top to his lower region. His long pants, too, were complete wet, and Yoh didn't know why, but he felt an unfamiliar tingling sensation building up in the pits of his stomach. "Aren't you going to take your pants off?" Yoh asked, and he wished he hadn't. He really felt like killing himself for asking such a question.

Thankfully, Hao couldn't read Yoh's mind, and neither did he think anything of his last question. The elder simply responded by laughing, "I'm wearing a pair of PE shorts on the inside. It doesn't matter."

Yoh nodded meekly, but to avoid further humiliation, he fished out a handkerchief and got to the floor - knees and all - to clean up the puddle of water. Hao got down too and, once again, grabbed Yoh's wrist to stop him from doing anything more. He smiled, "Don't trouble yourself." With Yoh being too shocked to do or even say anything further, Hao took Yoh's handkerchief from him and proceeded to clean up the puddle himself.

_Don't just stay there, make yourself useful!_, Yoh mentally scolded himself, but by the time he got back to his senses, Hao was already done with his chore.

Hao stared at the wet diminutive, white handkerchief and laughed, "Sorry about your..."

Yoh shook his head, "Don't worry about it. You can keep it if you want." Yoh smiled shyly, "My mother can always get me a new one."

Hao turned to Yoh and smirked, "A mommy's boy, huh?"

Yoh began to blush, bringing forth a grin from the other. "Well," Hao added. "Consider yourself lucky."

Yoh was confused, but refused to say any more. He watched as Hao got back to his seat and picked up his chopsticks. "Let's start on our meal, shall we?"

The two Asakuras, though, were completely oblivious to the fact that there were two other teens watching them the whole time. How they managed it, no one knows. But, hey, they deserved an award for being able to spy on others without getting caught.

"It's official," Horo whispered. "Yoh _does_ like him."

Anna frowned, "There's something about the both of them that sort of bothers me..."

Horo tilted his head at the blonde, "What is it?"

"I don't know," Anna replied. "But I've been both their friend long enough to suspect something going on between them.."

"Do you want to talk to them about it?"

Anna shook her head, "Let the two of them be alone for now."

* * *

><p>After almost an hour of lunch, it was finally time for class. Students - Hao included - packed up their lunch sets and reluctantly walked back to their respective classrooms. The teachers entered shortly after and immediately began on their classes. This went on until the last period. Although he had found it to be awkward, Yoh really did enjoy Hao's company during lunch period. He soon found himself staring out the window throughout the rest of the day, replaying to himself the scenes that happened earlier in his head. Not that any of the teachers minded; it was better to see the lazybum awake rather than sleeping.<p>

A slight blush began to form on the brunette's face whenever he pictured a shirtless Hao, but of course, he was oblivious to his own body's reaction.

Anna sighed and shook her head; she had been watching her friend the whole time, but somehow, she'd rather him to be sleeping than daydreaming. She didn't know if Horo did the same as her, though.

"_I need you guys to copy these notes down into your notebooks. This is very important and can help you for future reference. For example, you can score very well in your future exams if you included these notes into your essays_."

The whole class sighed and obliged. Anna dug into her pencil case for a pencil, but frowned when she wasn't able to find one. Not giving it any further thought, she turned to the Chinese student by her right and said, "Do you think I can borrow your pencil?"

Now, any student who caught Anna doing this would be far beyond shocked. Like Hao, Tao Ren was one of the most worshiped students in Shinra Academy. He was very intelligent and the quality of his work could surpass even that of a college student. But what made him so admirable was that Ren chose to study in the academy instead of going to university, for reasons unknown. Not only did he have the brains, the girls found him to be extremely cute, too. Basically, if you didn't approve of breathing the same air as Tao Ren, people would think of you as - you got it - a weirdo. _And how is it that Anna had the guts to talk to people _this _important?_

Ren sighed, obviously annoyed by the fact that someone actually had the guts to break into his circle of personal space. He dug into his pencil case and fished out a pencil for the blonde, before turning to pass it to her.

"_Miss Kyouyama and Mr Tao, may I know what you two are doing_?"

Anna froze in shock upon hearing the teacher's voice. Ren, however, wasn't so lucky. One of his biggest flaws was that he was too jumpy. And so, upon hearing his name being called, he jerked forward in shock.

As he did so, several stiffled gasps and silent whoa's filled the room. This snapped Yoh out of his daydreams and he, like the other students, turned to see what had happened. Even the teacher dropped his chalk and simply stared at the two students at the back of the classroom, his mouth agape.

"What the fuck...," Horo grumbled upon seeing the sight of Anna and Ren leaning in so close to each other.

They weren't _just_ close.

They touched.

Their lips were locked.

* * *

><p><strong>Gah! I hate this ending so much; I am so embarrassed by it! I think the only good thing about this chapter is the part when Hao took off his shirt! *sighs* Oh, well. It can't be helped. This was how I wanted the chapter to end anyway. OTL<strong>

**So, how do you guys like it? The fourth chapter of Masquerade! Only 19 days left until the Masquerade party (yes, I counted)! I feel like fastforwarding the whole thing so we could just get to the party already... because there are so many things I still have to write about _after_ the party! —I'm sorry, _what_? Did you think the story was going to end there? Of course not! *cackles***

**I'm sad to say that the next chapter is going to be a tad bit boring though. And perhaps a little shorter, too. It merely explains the relationship between Horo and Anna, which I know most of you are curious about. xD Though, lemme repeat myself: IT. WILL. BE. BORING. But! You guys will still continue reading this story, right? _RIGHT_?**

**On to the review replies! *hides a tear*:**

_**KaitouHime-NightsWing - **_**I hope I spelled your username right! xD And I'm really glad you do! I'll keep updating just as long as you keep motivating me with your reviews! 8D *_shot_***

_**RoseblossomWarrior -**_** I do, too. D: But, hehehehehh, you'll start to see why Hao's spending a lot more time with Yoh. Soon. SOON. OHOHOHOHOHOHH. *clears throat* Anywaaaaay. I don't really ship Horo and Anna, but eh... why not add a random crack pairing in here? xD Hehhh. The teens here aren't as crazy about partying and getting wasted and etc., but I agree, the reality shows have to go. Shaman King is way better! 8D**

_**H and N**_** - Heehee, you guys have a very good gay radar. xD Ohohohoho, about Horo and Anna... you'll see. YOU'LL SEE. *evil grin* And I'm so jealous that you guys can speak Mandarin! *sob***

_**SK-fan7**_** - YAYAYAYAYAYAY YOU'RE BACK. *pulls you into a bear hug* D'aaw, you think so? Your review made me so happy! ;O; Ahhh, let me love you! *grabbyhands* Heehee, you'll have to wait till next chapter to learn about Horo's and Anna's relationship!**

**Oh, oh! I was just thinking the other day about a plot for another fic. It's multi-chapter, but there's a (high) chance that I might not upload it on here, mainly because it's HaoxOC, and I don't think anybody will read it. After all, what kind of fangirls don't mind when an OC has been paired up with their man? e.e I'll think about it, though. I'm currently planning on it, and I'm trying not to make my OC very... Mary Sue-like. xD I don't want to say much about the plot, 'cept for the fact that it's probably going to end up like most shoujo-like fics. :P (hopefully not!)**

**I'm also not planning on writing a birthday fic for Goldva. I don't know her well, sadly. SK wiki doesn't help, either. OTL**

**Anyway, thanks, thanks, THANKS for reading! I hope you all will continue to support me! :3 Till next time! *bows***

**- A**


	5. Reason Behind Everything

**. Reason Behind Everything .**

Oh, how wonderful it must be in high school. It's as if you were working as a news reporter, or a journalist, and news about anything and everything would plop themselves onto your desks. And it was your job to spread these news, like a forest fire. You could even add in some little details and no one would care whether they were true or not. The only thing that mattered was that your audience liked your piece of news, and the more interesting they get, the bigger your audience becomes.

Of course, it was no exception in Shinra Academy. Immediately after the students found themselves to be staring at an odd, unlikely couple kiss, they fished out their mobile phones, snapped photos, and sent them to their fellow friends. The receivers then forwarded the photos to their other friends, and their friends would do the same. It was like a chain. Soon enough, news about the fellow uptight girl Kyouyama Anna and the Chinese kid - also uptight - Tao Ren, became big. The whole school knew about it. Fanclubs were made by supporting fangirls, and the jealous ones just sulked in the corners. Most people had no idea what was going on, and never gave the whole kissing thing much thought. Still, students and staff of all kinds were both thrilled and shocked to learn about something like this.

When the school bell that indicated the end of the last period rang, Anna and Ren bolt out of their classrooms and ran as fast as they could to the nearest washrooms. Various students ran after them (Ren, mostly), eager to see what either of them might do next. A large crowd of squealing girls had already formed just outside the men's room, screaming for Ren to come out as soon as possible. The males who walked past the crowd shuddered uncomfortably and made sure to move as far away from them as possible. Even more males felt like their hearts were sinking; though they were delighted to learn that the notorious Kyouyama Anna did not have a crush on the oh-so-famous Asakura Hao, the fact that Anna had still shown a sign of affection towards Ren made them want to jump off a cliff. Yes, the whole Ren and Anna thing came as a shock, but what's happened has happened.

Yoh and Horo were a couple of the boys who had followed Anna to the girls' room. Unlike the other boys, who had wanted to have a word with Anna, Yoh and Horo wanted nothing more but for Anna to come out and just tell everyone to shut the hell up. Perhaps giving them one of her famous tight slaps would do the trick.

As the boys waited, they watched as various students walked past, gossiping and giggling as they did so. The boys grimaced; _goodness knows what those students could be thinking about_. The teacher who was teaching Anna's and Ren's class for the last period had stomped hastily out of the classroom, feeling extremely humiliated.

"_Oh, I'm so jealous! Ren is so adorable, and I thought he was single..._"

"_Why would Ren even like that Anna girl? She's so violent and heartless._"

"_And _you _thought opposites attract_!"

"_Sh-shut up...! ...At least now I know Hao is still available..._"

Horo stared coldly at the gossiping girls who just walked past them, causing a thrilling chill to run down their spines. The girls shuddered, and quickly walked away from the boys. As they did so, Horo began to grumble, "Why can't _these_ girls just shut the hell up and leave Anna alone?"

Yoh arched a brow at his friend, "What do you mean?"

"If these girls keep up with the gossip, Anna would be too scared to even come to school!" Horo rambled on. "They've got to know how she feels! Try putting yourself in Anna's shoes for a while!"

Yoh nodded, agreeing with his friend, "I agree. That kiss _was_ an accident, after all." Then, Yoh could have sworn he just noticed flames flickering in Horo's pupils the moment he said that.

"_I don't give a fuck on whether that was an accident or not_...," the bluenette mumbled.

Something triggered Yoh to smile, but he decided to remain silent. The image of his friend beating him to a pulp was already terrifying enough to make him shudder. He had to admit; sometimes, Horo was just as scary as Anna.

At that moment, the Chinese boy Ren stepped out of the men's room, only to be chased by a huge group of girls, squealing and questioning him about the recent incident.

"_Ren! Do you really like Anna?_"

"_Anna's so lucky! Why did you choose her, Ren-sama?_"

"_Ren!_"

"_Ren-sama!_"

"_REN!_"

"G-get away from me, you morons...!" Ren bellowed, running as fast as he could to the next nearest washroom, but the girls just wouldn't oblige.

Horo, Yoh, and the rest of the boys, heard an amused laughter from behind them. They turned, only to meet face to face with the one and only, Asakura Hao. "Ren's fangirls are hilarious!" the star said. Of course, only _he_ would find this whole thing amusing to watch. Who else? Now, everyone else began to wonder if he had ever found any of his own fangirls funny.

"H-Hao...!" Yoh gasped upon seeing the other Asakura. He couldn't help but grin.

Hao waved back as a greeting, before pointing to the door of the girls' room. "Is Anna in there?" he asked.

Yoh nodded, "She's been in there for quite a while. I'm getting worried."

"Don't be," Hao replied. "Because I can do anything." The older brunette proceeded to open the door of the girls' room, before being stopped by the other boys.

"Hold on, you can't go in there!" one of the seniors yelled. "It's the _girls' room_."

Hao simply smiled, "So? What are you trying to say?" It was just then that all the boys realised that Hao was wearing a PE shirt that seemed to be a little small for him (Yoh's guts begin to flutter when he thought of how Hao was wearing _his_ shirt), thus revealing his slim and slender figure. Not to mention that Hao also had on a pair of short shorts, which, too, revealed his legs from his upper thighs to his ankles. Complete with his long dark hair that went past his waist, Hao indeed had the appearance of a girl.

Hao smirked, knowing they got the hint already, and with that, he pushed open the door and entered the washroom, leaving the other boys baffled.

Hao was surprised to find that the girls' room was nearly empty; he had thought that girls would usually spend lots of time fixing their hair and putting on their make-up and whatever things they do to make themselves look 'pretty' in the washrooms. Maybe the reason why there were nearly no girls in here was because Anna was inside here; the other girls would rather spend their time chasing the Ren around the campus.

Hao tilted his head to the side, and fixed his gaze on the last cubicle. It happened to be the only one that was occupied in this washroom. He walked up to it, and was certain he heard a few sobbing noises coming from it.

Hao took a deep breath and knocked on the door, "Anna? Are you alright?"

The only response he got was more sobs, so he continued, "It's me, Hao. Yoh and Hollow are outside. They're worried about you."

"They're laughing at me, aren't they?" Anna's shaking voice came from inside the cubicle, bringing forth an elated grin from the brunette. _Finally! An answer!_

"Of course they're not," Hao replied. "How could th—"

"I wasn't referring to those two dimwits," Anna snapped.

The brunette blinked, "W-well..." _Come to think of it..._ Hao needed to think of something decent to say. _Fast_! He didn't like the silent response he was getting from the girl. It made the whole place seem so cool and scary. "Y-you can't stay in there forever," Hao finally sighed. "If you come out, perhaps Hollow, Yoh, and I could escort you home?"

Again, no response. No surprise there; Anna was never the one to talk much. After a long moment of deafening silence, when Hao finally came to the conclusion that Anna didn't need his help, the door to the cubicle opened unexpectedly. Out came a frowning, watery-eyed blonde, with her fists clenched. She continued to glare coldly at the boy when he flashed her a grin.

Hao pushed open the door of the washroom, whereas countless pairs of eyes were fixated onto him. He simply returned them a satisfied smile, before turning to Yoh and Horo. "I need you two to help me cover Anna while we escort her to her house," he instructed calmly. "The key thing is to make sure nobody else - regardless of whether it's a guy or girl - gets near Anna. Understood?"

Both boys agreed. Hao gestured the blonde to step out of the washroom, and she did. Immediately, the other boys gasped and attempted to rush forward, stretching their arms out, hoping they would get to touch a strand of Anna's yellow hair, or her uniform sleeve, or just about anything that had her genes on it. Unfortunately, for them, three other boys had surrounded Anna, and all three sent a cold stare at them, with the bluenette's being the strongest. Once they were sure the boys were completely frozen and couldn't bring themselves to move another inch, the three juniors began to lead the girl out of the campus quickly.

"You don't have to do this, seriously," Anna sighed when they finally stepped out of campus. The three boys had broken up, finally giving the girl some personal space and air to breathe. "I can handle all the humiliation."

Hao tilted his head teasingly, "Are you sure? I swore I just heard you c—"

Before he could even finish, Hao felt a familiar stinging pain on his right cheek. He stumbled and fell onto the ground, clutching his cheek, desperate for the pain to subside. Yoh and Horo twitched at the pathetic sight of the teen before them, whereas Anna simply stood at the side. One could see the veins protruding from her temple. Her left hand had been outstretched, as if she had just hit something - or _someone_, in this case - with it.

"I have to deal with all the humiliation if I wish to continue living. Such petty things like this don't scare me," Anna said as she lowered her hand and continued walking confidently, leaving the other two teens to stare at her admiringly.

"_She's so cool_," Horo mumbled.

* * *

><p>Nearly half an hour later, Asakura Hao found himself standing in the living room of Kyouyama Anna's house. He began looking around eminently; although this wasn't his first time in the Kyouyama's household, he was still amazed by the exotic beauty and majesty of the house. It looked nothing like a Japanese house; it was more Westernised, in a way. The doors, the furniture, <em>everything<em>. And this amazed Hao because unless you were a Kyouyama, you don't get to see houses like this one everyday.

"It's been a while since I last came here," Hao said, smiling.

Anna scoffed, "You can go home now."

"Nope, I want to stay for a while."

Anna continued to glare at the brunette. _How long is he going to smile like that?_

"What are you going to do about the incident with Ren?" Hao queried, swaying back and forth in his position playfully. "Everyone's going to see you as the '_iron maiden_' now; no other girls would even have the guts to talk to that spikey!"

Anna narrowed her gaze at him, "I told you, it's none of your business. I can handle all of this."

"Don't get too cocky now," Hao wagged his finger teasingly. "If you have a problem, it's best to talk to someone about it, otherwise you're not going to be able to live the rest of your life the way you want to."

The girl twitched, "...Are you telling me this because you don't want me to be like you?"

Hao chuckled, "Partially, but the main reason is because, currently, there's someone who likes you for _who you are_. You wouldn't want to ruin your natural image now, do you?"

"Of course not," Anna snapped. "...Because the man who likes me - ...I like him as well."

Silence followed, before the brunette broke it.

"...Well, hurry. You promised to give me his number, remember?"

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, two other teens found themselves in another household. It wasn't very hard to guess whose, of course - Horo and Yoh were both seated in Yoh's room. Their glasses of green tea were left untouched on the desk. The brunette watched as his friend spun about in his roller chair; he had his arms crossed and the sour expression on his face indicated that he wasn't in an entirely good mood.<p>

"Stop sulking like that," Yoh spoke up. Horo ultimately ignored him, causing the brunette to sigh, "What are you upset about?"

"Everything," Horo replied glumly. "Life sucks now."

Yoh blinked, "Why do you say that?" His friend ignored him once again and continued spinning in the chair.

Suddenly, Yoh felt like slapping himself. _How slow can he get_? After all that's happened, he finally got the hints _now_? Oh, how he wished he had known sooner. "Are you - uhm, forgive me for this..," Yoh scratched the back of his neck nervously. "Well, _jealous_?"

No response.

Just when Yoh was about to mentally slap himself again, he heard a bizarre shaky sound coming from beside him, followed by a vibrating feeling. Yoh turned to pick up his mobile phone, only to find that he had just received a text message from an unknown number. When he opened it, however, the sender introduced himself as Hao. The message read,

"_Heya, Hao here. :) Got your number from Anna. We need to talk._"

Yoh grins upon seeing Hao's name in the message, but the grin got replaced by a frown the moment he read the last line. Somehow, Yoh got the hint on what they were going to talk about, and he proceeded to reply,

"_I know. It's about horo and anna, right?_"

Hao's reply came seconds later,

"_There's no doubt that there's something going on between those two. Do you think we need to do something about this?_"

"_But what can we do? Their relationship is already going downhill a—_"

"Stop talking about me and Anna."

Yoh jumped in shock upon hearing the low voice that he was oh-so-familiar with. He lowered his mobile phone and slowly turned around, expecting a certain bluenette to be glaring down at him. And what did he see? Of course, he was right about the glaring part. Yoh began to ask himself if Horo had really been standing behind him the whole time, secretly reading the conversation between him and Hao. _Crap._ He was in the midst of typing his next message; what was Horo going to do now?

Suddenly, the image of Hao lying on the ground with a twitching cheek appeared in his head, and Yoh began to wonder if he was soon going to end up like him.

"Don't worry, I'm not mad," the blunette sighed, as if he could read Yoh's mind. "It's only natural for anyone to think that way of me and Anna. Besides, I was thinking of telling you about the real story between the both of us." Horo walked back to the roller chair and began spinning on it again.

Yoh arched a brow. _Real story_?

"I'm sure you already know that I was in the same elementary school as you and Anna, right?" Horo began, and Yoh nodded in response.

"You were enrolled only during our last year there," Yoh added.

"Yeah, because I just moved here to Tokyo from Hokkaido then," said Horo. He then proceeded to clear his throat. "Well.. back then, Anna and I were.. pretty close friends."

_Of course_, thought Yoh. Back when they were in elementary school, Yoh and Anna hung out most of the time, but when she wasn't with him, then she would usually be hanging out with her other friends. Most of her friends were guys, as the girls disliked her violent nature. Yoh recalled some occasions when he would see Horo and Anna hanging out together, but that was only for a few months. After that, they stopped talking to each other, but Yoh never gave it much thought because he didn't know Horo back then.

"What happened?" Yoh questioned, tilting his head in curiosity.

"I did the biggest mistake in my entire life," Horo replied, shaking his head. He probably did it through shame. "And that was to fall for Anna.. Of course, being the brainless, cocky kid that I am.. I confessed. ...And that pretty much marked the end of our friendship."

_No wonder Horo could get along so well with Anna_. "But why?"

"Anna told me.. a lot of things I didn't want to hear. And that's why I befriended you in the first place, after I saw Anna left you for that Hao guy. I know how it feels when someone you're really close to leaves you for someone else. Someone _better_." Horo shamefully puffed up his cheeks, thinking that that would hide the awkward shade of pink on his cheeks.

"...And _that's_ why you hate him," Yoh added, and Horo nodded. Somehow, Yoh couldn't help but ask, "But you still like her, right? Anna, I mean."

Horo nodded again, this time a bit sheepishly.

_Strange_, Yoh and Anna used to be together most of the time, as mentioned before. Yoh had to admit; there was a point when he _did_ develop a tiny crush on her but he never had the guts to tell her about it. Whether he was afraid that he might get beaten up by the girl he liked or not, he didn't know. But that didn't matter to him anymore, because his crush for the girl died a long time ago. Helpless, Yoh questioned yet again, "So you and Anna _aren't_ dating?"

Horo shook his head glumly, "Nope."

At that moment, Yoh turned back to his mobile phone and deleted the contents of his half-finished message. He then began to type a new one. His hands were shaking so much that he wasn't even able to type properly. Luckily for the younger brunette, Hao was patient, and after some time, he finally managed to decipher what Yoh was trying to say in his text,

"_We need to talk_"

* * *

><p><strong>Wow... this chapter turned out better than I thought. xD Not so boring, eh? I realised drinking bubble tea helps keeps the flames of creativity alive. :P<strong>

**Anyways, ta-daaa! The story behind Horo and Anna! Not as exciting as I had wanted it to be, sad to say, but hey! At least now you all know what's going on between the two of them. xP How do you like it? Sorta explains Horo's feelings towards Hao too, doesn't it? And I apologise if I confused any of you guys with the 'elementary school' and 'high school' part; basically I just followed the school system here in this country, and I really don't know how it works in other countries... *shrugs***

**Poor Anna! Poor Horo! Poor Hao (for getting legendary-left-hand-slapped)! And poor Yoh (for not being the main character in this chapter)! Hehe, don't worry. The next chapter will be extremely exciting, I PROMISE! I REALLY DO! It's going to be a bit longer but it's worth it, I swear! xD I'm so sorry; I'm pretty excited because I've already planned the next chapter and I liked the way it turned out. :3 Ahhhh, I'm so happy I could fly~ I SO CAN'T WAIT. OH. And I love the fact that Hao is still calling Horo 'Hollow'. Sorry, I can't help it sometimes. xD**

***clears throat* Ahh.. I sincerely apologise for that. Now, where did we stop? Ah! Review replies! Yaaaaay~:**

**xx**

_**Xbakiyalo**_** — Ooh, you're not the only one who loves high school-based stories! And thank you very much! ;O; Heeheehee, and I can't wait to write more about the main couple in this story. I'm so focused on Horo and Anna and I think I should really stop. They are, after all, just a crack pairing. THIS PAIRING ISN'T EVEN SUPPOSED TO EXIST IN THIS FIC. I DON'T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED BUT I JUST THOUGHT TO MYSELF, "Hey, let's make Horo and Anna a couple!" AND BAM! xD Oh, my, what have I been drinking? Yoh and Hao as brothers? Nonononono, my story wouldn't work that way. xD Hehe. Thank for the R&R!**

_**RoseblossomWarrior**_** — And YOU'VE made my night with your review! xD Hehehehh, sad to say, Ren will only make cameo appearances in this fic, buuuuut I've planned something for that adorable Chinese kid (and you) for my last chapter. HEEHEEHEE. I AM SO EXCITED ALL OVER AGAIN. Shirtless Hao is love. And will you really read the OC fic? ;O; You've made me so happy! *pulls you into a bear hug***

_**H And N**_** — Of course, now I know everyone loves a shirtless Hao! ;) And I'm amazed that you, too, are delighted to find Ren is in this fic! D'aaww, at my country, there are a lot of Mandarin-speaking people, so most of my friends can speak Mandarin, and I always feel left out. And I'm glad that you're actually looking forward to the next chapter! Hehe! Thank you!**

_**Alice**_** — Everyone wants to see Hao shirtless, yes, but like you said, it's too good to be true. :( *sobs* Thanks, and I definitely ****will****! :D**

_**Nyeeeh**_** — Aww, glad to know you do! Ahh, yes, all the attractive guys are gay. OTL xD Thanks!**

_**SK-fan7 **— ****_****B-best scene in the chapter? Best school-fic you've ever read? Aww, y-you're flattering me! -u- And to think that you'll actually sacrifice your time to read my future chapters- HOW CAN I EVER LOVE YOU ENOUGH? And sad to say, I'll only be focusing on Yoh's and Hao's past in the chapters _after_ the party. I've already planned something for them. x3 Thank you sooooo much!****

****xx****

**By the way, I've done quite a lot of thinking and I think I might actually write my HaoxOC fic! Like I said, it's multi-chapter, but I'll only upload it once I'm done with Masquerade. I also don't want to spoil the plot or anything, sooooo I've drawn a preview for you guys. :3 Link's at the end of this... note? xD It's actually on my dA, as well. Do pardon my bad pencil-work, though. It's hard to concentrate when you're trying to draw and watch the X-Factor at the same time!**

**I apologise for any mistakes! Too hyper, brain not working. xD Thank you all for being my lovely readers! Till next time! *bows***

**- A**

**P.S. Link to the preview: http:/ / shamanhearts-ffnet (DOT) blogspot (DOT) com/2011/09/haoxoc-fic-preview (DOT) html**


	6. So Close, Yet So Far

**. So Close Yet So Far .**

"...and that's why everything's so confusing right now," Yoh finished. He had just explained to Hao about Horo's and Anna's past that morning. They were in school, and the both of them were trying to ignore the various fangirls squealing about the kissing incident that happened the day before. Although class was about to start any second, there were many students who were still absent in the classrooms, Horo and Anna included. Yoh began to wonder if the students got sick or actually killed themselves because of the incident, but he managed to brush that thought off his mind before anything worse could happen.

"Hmmm," Hao hummed, as if pondering over something. "I never knew about this. Looks like Anna really is the type who would hide such things from her friends.."

"What do you think we should do?" Yoh asked. "If we don't do anything about this, then Horo, Anna, and Ren will..." Yoh shuddered at the mental images that appeared in his head, whatever they may be.

"Simple," Hao replied. "We should just do our best to get Anna and bluehead to hook up. That way, Anna and Hollow will be happy, and even Ren is safe."

"That would only work if Anna liked Horo back..," said Yoh, pouting.

"Ahh, but didn't you say Hollow confessed?" Hao wagged a finger teasingly at the younger Asakura. "Psychology facts have stated that once someone confesses his affectionate feelings towards the person he or she likes, then the other party will start liking them back." Yoh simply blinked confusingly at Hao, so he added, "It means that if Hollow had confessed to Anna, then Anna would start liking him back, even if she didn't have a crush on him in the first place."

Finally getting the hint, Yoh nodded his head thoughtfully, his lips forming a perfect 'O'. _So Anna did like Horo after all_. Somehow, he got reminded of the time when Hao had told him that he liked him; Hao paid him a visit when he was sick the other day. Even though Yoh knew Hao didn't mean it in the literal sense, Yoh _did_ feel like he was getting more and more attached to the older brunette ever since then.

"That's why I say we should hook them up," Hao said, breaking Yoh's chain of thoughts.

"But knowing Anna's character, she's probably gonna deny and refuse everything," Yoh said almost immediately, hoping he didn't show any obvious signs of daydreaming.

Hao chuckled, "Have you forgotten who I am?" Yoh stared blankly at Hao while he simply smirked back at him.

* * *

><p>Eventually, it was decided that Yoh should deal with Horo, while Hao would deal with Anna. After what happened the day before, Yoh wasn't sure if it was still safe for him to even go anywhere near his friend. After being told of the story between him and Anna, Yoh remained silent, unsure of what to say. And before he could do anything more, his friend had already left. He was still in a gloomy mood when he did. Now, they were supposed to discuss about Hao's plan of making him and Anna look like a couple, and Yoh had to admit; <em>he was scared<em>. What if he had totally changed overnight? What if Horo threw a massive tanthrum? Mental images of Horo sending flying punches and kicks at Yoh made him shudder. "Hao, why did you leave _him_ with me...?" he whined to himself as the older brunette made his way back to his classroom.

Several minutes later, Horo and Anna finally stepped into the classroom. _Together_. They were standing so close to each other that everyone who walked past them giggled and snapped photos of them. When they finally reached their classroom, however, they broke themselves away from each other and made their own separate ways to their seats, with sour expressions present on both their faces.

There was still time left before their teacher came into class and began their lesson, so Yoh took this opportunity to talk to his friend. As he made his way to the bluenette, he started wishing that he had been made to talk to Anna instead, but sadly, he had to do as told, otherwise the whole plan would backfire. "Do you mind if I have a word with you?" Yoh asked when he finally reached Horo's desk.

"Not really," Horo replied rudely, clearly annoyed by Yoh's presence, for some reason the brunette didn't know.

"Are you mad?"

Horo furrowed his eyebrows, "Mad? About what?"

"About what happened yesterday."

"Oh," Yoh could see Horo's face at ease as the unpleasant features faded. "Nah."

"Ah, well, I was sorta thinking..," Yoh looked down at his feet and began fiddling his thumbs. "Do you think that if you and Anna pretended to be a couple, people would actually stop pestering Anna about the whole Ren incident?"

Horo arched a brow, "Actually, that's what Anna and I were thinking."

Yoh's face lit up. _So that's why the both of them came in together_. "Isn't that a good thing, then?" he questioned playfully.

Horo scoffed, "I wish, but it's actually harder than we thought. _Paparazzi everywhere_. And we don't look _anything_ like a couple at all."

"You can leave that to Hao!" Yoh couldn't help but grin.

The bluenette twitched, "You mean Hao's in this too?" Yoh nodded meekly, then Horo sighed, "Well, if he can help make our lives easier, I'd like to see him try."

_He will be able to change everything,_ Yoh thought, smiling back at his friend.

After four long hours of pure boredom, the school bell rang to indicate that it was time for lunch. As usual, several students bolt out of their classrooms and made their way quickly to the cafeteria, hoping that they were first in line so that they could get the best quality food. They were serving tater tots that day, and everyone knows tater tots are best when eaten warm.

Horo and Anna were just about getting ready to leave when a certain brunette had appeared at the doorway of their classroom. Greeting the couple - and his friend Yoh - with an innocent smile, he chirped, "You guys are looking lively." As expected, he received no response from any of the three, so he continued to make his way to the younger brunette, his hands clutching onto his lunch set.

The other two teens watched as Hao and Yoh took a seat each and laid out their lunch sets on the tables before them. One set was the usual bento, while the other was just a set of cream puffs. Before any of the two could even begin on their meals, Hao turned to Horo and Anna and tilted his head, his innocent smile still glued onto his face. "Well? Are you two just going to stand there?" he asked. "You're going to miss the tater tots!"

The other couple blinked, as if coming back to reality, before reluctantly making their way out of the classroom. Yes, reluctantly.

Hao then turned back to Yoh, chuckling, "Well, it looks like our job has been taken care of."

Yoh nodded, getting the hint, "Horo told me that him and Anna are already pretending to look like a couple."

"Now we only have one thing left to do."

Yoh arched a brow, "What's that?"

"To turn the both of them into a couple." Yoh stared blankly at Hao, confused yet again, so Hao added, "I mean it in the literal sense."

Yoh widened his eyes in utter shock, "Wh-what? How are we supposed to do that?"

The other brunette smirked, "Easy. We'll just do whatever we can to trigger both their feelings for each other." He then popped in a large amount of sesame rice into his mouth.

Yoh, on the other hand, plainly took a small bite of his cream puff, wondering if Hao's plan would really work. Then, as if he could read his mind, Hao added, "Everything will work out. Tomorrow's a weekend, isn't it? I know just what to do. Trust me."

_I do, Hao,_ Yoh thought to himself. _I do_.

* * *

><p>The following morning, the whole of the Asakura family were having their breakfast together. It was a simple Japanese breakfast, seeing as it was a weekend and most of Yoh's relatives would be going out that day. The Asakura's shared no words with each other, as usual. No one quite liked the silence, but they wouldn't dare say such things out loud, what with the oldest woman in the household being the most crankiest one, too. So everyone just ate their meals quietly as usual, and only spoke when deemed necessary.<p>

"_Yomigaere_!" a lady's voice - followed by music - suddenly screamed out of nowhere, breaking the silence. Everyone immediately fixed their gaze onto Yoh, whose face was already flushed.

"Asakura Yoh," Yoh's mother called out in a stern manner. "What did I say about bringing your mobile phone to the dining table?" She tried to ignore the annoying, high-pitched giggles her other children - Redseb and Seyrarm - were making.

"S-sorry..," Yoh muttered. He was then excused from the table, and he quickly made his way to the kitchen. He fished out his mobile phone and saw Hao's name on the caller ID. Happy, and at the same time confused about why the star was calling him, he quickly answered the call, "Hello?"

"Hey," Hao spoke on the other line. "Are you free today?"

Yoh shrugged, even though the other couldn't see him doing so physically. "I guess," he replied. "Why do you ask?"

Immediately, Yoh could sense a sly grin forming on the other brunette's face. "Listen, Yoh," said Hao. "I was wondering if you could come along with us to the Oyamada Theme Park today."

"_Us_?"

"Yeah. Me, Anna and that other guy."

"_Oh_..." Of course Anna and Horo were coming along. He had completely forgotten about their plan to turn Anna and Horo into a couple. What more was he expecting? Besides, going to the theme park with Hao alone would be weird; even if he _did_ look like a girl, Hao wouldn't enjoy going somewhere alone with a guy. Okay, so he may be gay, Yoh knew that, but he probably liked someone else. Then again, it pleased Yoh to know that Horo and Anna were coming along; everything wouldn't seem so awkward. And he could pretend that it was a double date; it wouldn't matter if Hao knows about it or not. He doesn't have to, anyway.

"Yoh?" Hao called out. "Are you there?"

Yoh blinked, finally getting back to reality, "Y-yeah.. Sorry..."

"So, will you come with us? To the theme park?"

Yoh was thankful they weren't talking face-to-face with each other, otherwise Hao would be able to spot the obvious blush on his face. "Of course..!" he replied.

"Great! I'll pick you up from your house."

Before Yoh could even answer, he heard a high-pitched '_ding_!' coming from the living room. It took him a few seconds to realise that it was the sound of the doorbell. Yoh walked up to the doorway to catch a glimpse of his elders back at the dining table. They glared annoyingly at the boy in return, making Yoh sweatdrop in shame. Yoh's mother sighed and finally stood up and advanced to open the main door. She was far beyond surprised to find another brunette with long, dark hair that went past his waist standing at the doorway, and she let out a stiffled gasp.

"What is it, Keiko?" her mother asked.

"Yoh...!" his mother - Keiko - called out for him. "Your friend is here!"

Yoh immediately dashed out of the kitchen to the door, where he found a smirking Hao, with a mobile phone in his hand. Hao arched a brow teasingly at the younger, "Are you really going to the theme park in _that_?"

Yoh blushed as he looked down at his baggy yukata, whereas Keiko simply giggled (how, I do not know..) and nudged her son, "Go ahead and change, Yoh."

Yoh nodded and quickly ran up to his room. He pulled out a pair of blue track pants and a plain white t-shirt and immediately put them on, throwing his yukata onto the floor afterwards. He then proceeded to tie his hair up with a matching black hairband. He turned to look at himself in the mirror, before thinking to himself that he seemed to be missing something. He pulled open his drawer and dug out his bear-claw necklace. He placed it over his shirt and looked at his reflection in the mirror, before frowning. _This doesn't look right.._ He then kept his necklace back in the drawer and, instead, placed his orange headphones around his neck. Satisfied, he quickly proceeded to the living room.

Yoh smiled upon seeing Hao still waiting patiently for him at the doorway. Hopefully, he didn't make Hao wait long. "Let's go," said Hao, gesturing the younger to follow him.

Yoh exchanged blessings with his family before putting on his sandals and stepping out of the house, following close behind Hao. He spent another twenty seconds waving back to his family before finally turning and giving Hao his full attention. "So," he began. "Where are Anna and Horo?"

"They're on their way to the theme park," Hao replied. "They'll probably be there by the time we arrive."

Yoh nodded, and thus, the two made their way to Oyamada Theme Park. They had to take a train, and then board a shuttle bus which will lead and alight them directly at the entrance of the theme park. They didn't talk much during their journey, even though Hao had occasionally start up random conversations with Yoh, much to his surprise. He thought Hao wasn't one to talk much.

After about half an hour of travelling, the two Asakura's finally reached the theme park. They immediately spotted the other two teens - Horo and Anna - by the ticket counters. What disappointed both brunettes was that Horo and Anna looked absolutely _nothing_ like a couple at all; they had their back facing each other and both of them have sour expressions on their faces.

Yoh and Hao thought nothing more and walked up to the other two teens, greeting them with a smile. "Let's go in, shall we?" Hao invited, tilting his head playfully.

The four spent ten more minutes queuing up to purchase their tickets, and when they finally did, they were allowed entry into the theme park. They stood and stared at each and every single rides they could see, oblivious to the shoving and pushing from the people around them.

"What ride should we get on first?" Yoh asked excitedly.

Horo shrugged and turned to both Anna and Horo, "It's your day."

Horo remained silent and shifted his gaze to the blonde, who was staring plainly at the biggest roller coaster in the park. There were so many loops and turns, and they could hear the people screaming in both excitement _and_ fear. Anna pointed at the roller coaster ride, causing the others to blink in surprise.

"Alright then," Hao nodded. "Then let's go." _Why was he so calm_?

The four teens joined in the extremely long queue for the ride, and after about fifteen minutes of waiting, they were finally led to the roller coaster cars. They were beautifully decorated with unique patterns and bright colours, mostly red. Even the head of the legendary humanoid demon had been carved and painted on the very first car of the rollercoaster, complete with huge pointy horns and sharp, menacing teeth.

Yoh shuddered upon catching a glimpse of the demon's head, and the fact that the rollercoaster was named '_Demon's Trip To Hell_' didn't help make him feel any better either. He and Hao were seated right behind Horo and Anna, and already, Yoh was beginning to regret stepping onto this roller coaster.

Hao had noticed the younger brunette shaking uncomfortably and ruffled his hair, thinking it would help ease his fear. "If you're scared," he began. "You can cling on to me."

Yoh blushed and shook his head frenetically, making the other laugh. "Okay, then," Hao added. "I'll just make sure you won't fall off." Hao then leaned in closer to Yoh and wrapped his own arm around Yoh's waist, causing him to tense slightly. Yoh could feel himself blushing even more, followed by a tingling feeling in his stomach. It was the very same feeling he had felt when Hao took off his shirt in front of him the other day. _Oh, crap_. He could do _nothing_ to hide his blush right now!

_I'll keep you safe. You just have to trust me._

Yoh's eyes widened as the feeling of nostalgia began to engulf him. He didn't know where that voice came from, but he was certain he's heard it before. The feeling in his stomach had subsided, and for a moment, Yoh didn't feel scared anymore. Unfortunately, the feeling returned as soon as Yoh felt the roller coaster car moving suddenly.

* * *

><p>One-hundred-and-twenty seconds later, the rollercoaster ride came to a stop, and the occupants got out from their cars to allow the others to get on. The four teens, too, left their cars, despite Anna complaining that the ride was too boring for her and that she wouldn't mind taking it for the second time. The four decided to take a break at one corner, what with a giddy blunette walking around aimlessly, and a shaking brunette clinging tightly on to Hao. On the other hand, Hao and Anna were still able to walk around normally; Hao could even smile!<p>

"That was fun, wasn't it?" Hao chuckled teasingly. He received no response from the other Asakura and the girl, but he heard the blunette mumble something along the lines of, "_Never again_..."

"L-let's get on something... less scarier...," Yoh muttered.

"Sure," Hao replied. "Only if you let go of me first."

Yoh stopped shivering immediately and widened his eyes upon hearing the other's words. He could feel a hell lot of heat beginning to creep up his face and let go of Hao instantly. Horo, too, stopped his aimless walking and chuckled at the sight before him, like Anna. Hao simply laughed softly to himself upon noticing the embarrassed look and the obvious blush on Yoh's face.

And so, the four teens decided to take the other rides available, such as the go-karts, the bumper cars and the water rides. Much to Horo's and Anna's disgust, most of the rides they took had couple seats, and they were often pestered by the other two to share a ride. Secretly, neither Anna nor Horo wanted to admit that they still had fun taking the rides together. There were also several occasions when Horo would touch Anna's hand, hair and shoulder by accident, thus leading him to being bitch-slapped by none other than Kyouyama Anna herself. The other two simply watched in amusement.

It was already dark, and the last ride that the four have decided to take was the ferris wheel, the _Skygazer_. It was named that because the cars of the ferris wheels had transparent ceilings, so the occupants would be able to see the sky. The four had to arch their necks to see the highest point of the ferris wheel from the ground; goodness knows how tall it was. Perhaps they could even see the whole of Tokyo from the highest point! Thankfully, by this time, the theme park wasn't as crowded as before, so the four didn't have to wait long to get on the cars. Much to their surprise, even the ferris wheel cars could only afford to fit two people each, so Horo and Anna got onto a car first, followed by Hao and Yoh.

Eventually, Horo's and Anna's car were close to reaching the highest point of the ferris wheel, and they were already given the privilege to gaze at a magnificent view of the city. They were right about being able to see the whole of Tokyo; _heck_, one could even see the cities of Urayasu and Kawaguchi if he tried hard enough! Even Lake Okumata didn't look so huge anymore. All kinds of bright lights and colours of the buildings lit up the whole scenery. Beyond that, the hills and mountains surrounded the city like a border.

"What a waste of land," Horo muttered to himself as he scanned the great size of the city of Tokyo. "Imagine all the trees they had to cut down just to make _this_ park." He wasn't kidding; the park was amazingly huge.

Anna furrowed her eyebrows, "Since when did _you_ care about these sort of things?"

"Since forever," said Horo. "If I could only buy just a small portion of land.. I could plant all the plants I want. Trees, flowers, fuki plants..."

"Vegetables are good," said Anna.

Horo sweatdropped, "Yes, they are, but that's not the point."

"No, it is," Anna snapped. "Plants give us life - oxygen, food, shelter; _everything_. And we, as humans, take these things for granted."

"Humans and nature should co-exist together, but unfortunately, the majority of us humans are too blinded by our selfish needss to see that," Hao said. Yoh simply stared him, amazed by his speech about humans and nature. He never knew Hao was this sort of person. Now that he thought about it, perhaps what Hao had said was true. Humans and nature _should_ co-exist together, for they cannot survive without one another. It was like light and darkness; one cannot exist without the other.

"So...," Horo shifted his gaze to the blonde. "Do you hate the humans for doing that?"

"I did, at first," said Anna. "But then someone changed my interpretation about these humans."

The bluenette smirked, "Lemme guess. It's none other than—"

"Hao," Yoh whimpered, his voice no louder than a whisper. As their car moved higher, Yoh moved in closer to Hao. Hao arched a brow, amused, as the younger placed his delicate hand over his own and grasped it tightly. Hao could even feel Yoh shaking, just like he was when they were on the roller coaster ride.

"I get it," Hao chuckled, an amused grin beginning to spread widely across his face. "You're afraid of heights."

Yoh nodded sheepishly, feeling slightly ashamed of himself. Suddenly, Hao wrapped his arm around Yoh's waist once again and this time, pulled Yoh closer to him. For some reason, Yoh didn't feel embarrassed like before. In fact, he felt _safer_. The car came to a slow stop when they were at the very top of the ferris wheel. Hao raised his head to look up at the starry night sky, whereas Yoh could only shift his gaze onto it. Amazingly, the stars up here looked way more magnificent than they did if you looked up at them from the ground.

"You shouldn't be afraid of heights," Hao muttered softly, but loud enough for the younger to hear. "Because when you're at the very top, you feel as if you're much closer to the universe..." Hao's arm reached out to the sky, as if wanting to grasp one of the twinkling stars above him. Yoh simply smiled as a response, and felt his eyelids slowly closing involuntarily as he rested his head on Hao's shoulder.

Horo and Anna were now staring into each other's sparkling eyes, smiling like never before. It was probably their first genuine smile after a long time, and they were sure they have never felt any better than this. They didn't know how their faces were now only centimetres apart from each other, but then again, they didn't seem to care.

"Keep this as a secret from them both?" Anna whispered.

The blunette nodded, "Promise."

The stars continued to shine brighter than ever above the four teens.

_So close, yet so far_.

* * *

><p><strong>Goodness knows how <em>long<em> I took to just write this one chapter! I admit, I am a slow writer. Then again, my muse was gone because it's now the exam period. orz But, hey! This chapter is finally done! :D I'm supposed to be studying for my exams but I couldn't help it. I was too excited and I _had_ to vent my excitement somewhere. Of course, THROUGH FANFICTION! I hope this chapter turned out as well as I had expected it to be! I can't really make any comments on it since _I_ am the writer, so why don't you guys tell me how it went? Please?**

**I had to cut out a looooot of things from this chapter because I was afraid it might get too long and you guys would get bored... *forever a sensitive person* And I tried as hard as I could to focus on both the couples equally in this chapter, and I think I've succeeded! :D I had wanted to describe how the roller coaster ride went but I got too tired to. :| And, oh, about the ending... what Anna and Horo did/are going to do is up to you to imagine. *coughcough***

**Next chapter will be very, very boring, sad to say! And perhaps much shorter, too. Gah, I am failing. orz ****Let's just get on to the review replies:**

**xx**

_**SK-fan7**_** — Ahahahah, well, planning this story and trying to connect everything together _did_ give me a few headaches and cost me some sleep but I don't mind at all, and that's because I love doing all of this just for wonderful readers like you! :D Pfft, Hao's gonna be mistaken for a girl throughout this entire fic. Hehehe! And to be frank, I'm actually sort of thinking about writing some smut.. but if I do that, then I'll have to do it in a separate fic. :3 D8 IT'S MY FAULT THAT YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO SLEEP? OH GOD, WHAT HAVE I DONE? *hits self***

**_RoseblossomWarrior — _OHMYGOD, IS THERE ANY WAY WHERE I CAN FAVOURITE YOUR REVIEW OR SOMETHING. xD I think you fangirling about Ren is the most amusing thing ever! Maybe I should make Ren appear more in this fic so I can continue to see you fangirl. xD Bahaha, yes, you'll just have to wait for the last chapter because I've got something _good_ planned for you. :3**

_**JasperxAlice**_** — I'm very glad you do! Thanks!**

_**H and N**_** **— Ahahahah, you don't have to apologise! It's the exams now so I might not be able to update my fic as often as I used to. I'll try to update this fic by next week, once the exams are over. 8'D And I was waiting for your review so I could upload this. YOUR REVIEW MADE ME SO HAPPY HEEHEE.****

**xx**

**I was having such a rough day at school but when I got home and checked my e-mail, my whole day had been made. I would love to thank RoseblossomWarrior, H And N, and SK-fan7 for writing such funny and wonderful reviews! I don't think I can ever forget them! xD  
><strong>**Anyways, I would like to add that the HaoxOC fic is AU, yes. But you guys will still read it, right? D: /lolwhoamIkidding**

**Aaaaand as requested by SK-fan7, here's a shooooort (really short, I swear) preview on the upcoming fic!:**

_/ "Place the beaker on top of a bunsen burner - " the girl smirked as she raised her left hand and snapped her fingers. A diminutive ball of flame instantly formed on her index finger, and she proceeded to place it under her beaker, " - the chemical inside the beaker should change in colour.. Observe how the molecu—"_

_"Oi, Kira, may I borrow your chemistry textbook?" Manta's voice sounded as the blonde pushed open the door to the chemistry lab. He spotted Kira at her table, with her back facing him. The girl immediately stopped her mumbling, and turned slowly to face the boy. Why was he here? Wasn't she the only one in school right now? Both stared at each other, speechless. "Ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod," the boy's repetitive panicky thoughts began to flood her mind. Manta brought up his shaking hand and pointed at the girl's, in which the girl immediately snapped her fingers once again, causing the ball of flame to disappear._

_It wasn't long before a scream finally managed to escape from Manta's throat._

_"YOOOOOOOHHHHHH!" /_

**So what do you guys think? Well, it's not the actual thing that's going to come up in the story. I mean, I cut out a lot of parts since this is only a preview. xD And yes, Kira is the name of my OC. Such a shame; my OC shares the same first name as me (yes, I have two names... xD Thankfully, my OC doesn't!).  
>OKAY, SO. I made a new.. not-so-personal MSN account, sooooo if you want it, you can PM me for it. I'll try to be on as much as I can. xD I also made an Ask Marion Phauna blog on Tumblr. You don't have to sign up for that site; just head to the blog and ask me random stuff and I'll answer as Marion Phauna. Link's up on my profile. xD<strong>

**I am in an extremely good mood today as I just found out my literature teacher is a fan of Shaman King! I've been stalking his Twitter and DeviantArt accounts xD And seeing his posts and art about Shaman King makes me feel so proud to be his student. LOL. I want to marry him. xD**

**17 days left to the masquerade party and I still feel like fastforwarding the whole thing. GAH. I'll think about it in my planning. :| Well, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and I apologise for any mistakes! *bows* Ah, and my grammar is very poor in this chapter. Migraines = not good. OTL**

**- A **


	7. Memories

**. Memories .**

By the time everything was over, almost the whole city of Tokyo was asleep. There were still bright lights illuminating the empty streets, and the people working the night shift were already close to falling asleep on the job. Oddly enough, that night was probably the only night when the busy Tokyo streets were actually empty, quiet, still, et cetera. It was as if everyone was waiting for something magical to happen, or maybe it has already begun, and people were trying to capture the moment. It was a night too peaceful to disrupt; every person just wanted to enjoy the rare peace.

After the ride on the ferris wheel, the teens bid each other goodbye before parting ways. Two of them decided to walk to their homes, while the other two took a cab. The ride back home didn't take long; it took only twenty minutes. One of the teens paid for the fare and he pulled the other out, before advancing to the front door of the building in the Asakura household.

Everyone in the Asakura household was already asleep by now. Well, _almost_ everyone. As for Keiko, she was half-asleep. She had stayed up and waited for her son to get back from his outing with his friend, but somehow, it was getting too late for her. She usually went to bed once her younger children did, and they went to bed fairly early every single night. Eventually, she ignored her mother's nagging and sat on the couch, this time, praying silently that her son would come home safe soon, in one piece. Her other children, Redseb and Seyrarm, were brought to bed by her other relatives, who proceeded to hit the sheets shortly after.

Keiko was close to entering dreamland when she suddenly heard the doorbell ring. She woke up with a jump, looking around with her eyes blinking frenetically, as if wondering where the sudden '_ding_!' came from. Unfortunately, the doorbell had also woken up her cranky mother. Kino stomped out of her room and squinted her eyes (though her eyesight already wasn't very good..) at Keiko's direction, frowning, "Who in the world would come to the house at this time of night?"

"I'm so sorry, Mother," Keiko apologised, bowing constantly to her mother as she did so. "It must be Yoh at the door right now. He went out with his friend earlier this morning, remember?"

"Hmph," Kino turned to get a glimpse of the clock on the wall before walking back to her room. "It's almost two in the morning... Youngsters nowadays...," Keiko watched as she heard her mother grumbling.

Before her mother got crankier, Keiko immediately ran to the main door and slid it open, expecting to see a cheery, albeit tired, boy at the doorstep. Instead, she found a much longer-haired brunette standing before her, with her son in said brunette's arms. Yoh was clinging on to the teen tightly, like a baby holding on to its mother. Upon seeing this, a small smile instantly formed on Keiko's face; it did remind her of the time when Yoh was still a little child.

Hao laughed silently, "I'm sorry about this... Yoh sort of fell asleep when we were on our last ride.. on the ferris wheel..."

Keiko shook her head, "No, _I_ must apologise for having you do this. Bring him in, - " she nudged the teen to enter the house, " - I've already prepared his bed for him."

Hao nodded and stepped into the house, and is then led by Keiko to Yoh's room upstairs. Hao gently placed Yoh on his bed, in which Keiko proceeded to pull the covers over her son afterwards. Keiko thanked the teen before leading him downstairs again. The both of them took a seat at the dining table, after Keiko had distributed a cup of lukewarm tea to Hao.

"I must thank you for being considerate enough to bring my son home," Keiko began, settling down in her seat.

Hao grinned, "No thanks needed. I did what I could."

Keiko smiled gently, "Now that I think about it, you never told me your name.."

The brunette laughed sheepishly, "I'm sorry.. My name is Hao. I'm a schoolmate of Yoh's."

"I see," Keiko replied, nodding. "It's nice to meet you, Hao. As you might know already, I am Yoh's mother." She glanced over at the clock, before continuing, "Where do you live? It's really late; the last buses and trains have already gone by now. Why don't you stay here for the night?"

Hao shook his head frantically, "I really appreciate the offer, ma'am, but it's okay; my house is only in the outskirts of Tokyo. I can always take a cab ho—"

"Please, I insist," Keiko interrupted. "It's dangerous for a young kid like you to be going out into the streets alone, especially when it's really late. ..Take this as a gift of gratitude from us for bringing Yoh back home safely."

Hao took a deep breath, as if hesitating over the situation, "Well..."

"There aren't any vacant rooms left," Keiko said before Hao could say another word. "So I'll just pull out and prepare another futon mattress for you in Yoh's room. I apologise; we're a big family, and you're probably most comfortable with Yoh."

There came no spoken response from the brunette, although he did smile sheepishly and even blushed, which Keiko thought was cute of the teen to do so.

"...Okay, I'll stay here for the night," Hao finally said, with the light tints of pink still present on his cheeks.

The lady grinned, "I'll go prepare your things right away." Hao watched as she then got to her feet and ran up to Yoh's room as quickly as she could.

While Keiko did so, Hao decided to take this opportunity to walk around the house. Maybe he could learn an interesting fact or two about his friend's family. He made his way to the living room, and the first thing that caught his eye was the vanity desk at the corner, where all the family photos were placed. Upon walking up to it, Hao eyed the photos carefully, one by one, trying to capture every little detail on them. _Let's see_... There was a photo of Yoh, his mother, and two other kids, probably taken just recently.. Then his grandparents.. _Oh_? _What's this_? A photo of a young, burly man with animals surrounding him. And right beside it lies a photo of yet another young man, who looked drunk. He probably was when the photo was being taken, anyway. Then, in the biggest frame lies the proudest photo of all; it was a family photo. Yoh looked a little shorter, and even Keiko looked a bit younger. This photo was probably taken a few years back.

Admittedly, Hao was a little sad that there wasn't even _one_ photo of Yoh when he was a little kid. A faint smile began to form slowly on the teen's face, and he chuckled to himself; Yoh was probably a cute and adorable kid back then..

"I'm done," Keiko announced as she walked down the stairs. She threw a bright blue towel at the teen, who managed to catch it with his hands successfully, despite feeling a little spaced out after having this chain of thoughts broken just seconds ago. "You can go wash yourself if you want. The washroom is just to your left once you reach upstairs."

Hao nodded and thanked the lady, before proceeding to walk up the stairs and headed to the washroom. Keiko, on the other hand, wished him goodnight before going to her room. Finally, some proper shuteye for her.

**xx**

Hao finished his shower several minutes later, only to come out of the washroom to find the house completely dark. Looks like Keiko had switched off all the lights. _Oh, well_. He knew the way to Yoh's room already. He was grateful to the lady when he found some neatly folded clothes on the table beside him; they must be Yoh's, and Keiko must have laid them out for the teen. Hao smiled to himself as he pulled off the towel that was wrapped around his waist, and put on the clothes, just then and there. Hey, everyone else was asleep. Nobody was going to notice him naked just outside the washroom, anyway..

When he was done, Hao smiled to himself once again. Though a little small, the clothes he was wearing still felt pretty comfortable and wearable. Satisfied, Hao began walking and entered Yoh's room, leaving his towel lying on the floor behind him.

Oddly, even in the dark, Hao was still able to find the futon mattress on the floor before him. It was placed just right next to Yoh's bed. Aside from the mattress, Hao also found a pile of bed sheets and a couple of pillows laid out on the mattress. Hao walked over to it and laid down on it and, to his surprise, found it to be extremely soft and comfortable. The pillows and sheets were no exception.

Hao brushed the sheets aside, finding no need to put them on as he didn't find the atmosphere to be cold. He then turned to his side, facing Yoh and his bed. He shifted his gaze to the younger brunette, who was sleeping soundly, and he laughed to himself as he thought of how Yoh's face looked like that of a young child when he was asleep. As he observed the never-seen-before features on his face, Hao could hear the younger snoring softly.

Hao smiled to himself, for a reason even _he_ didn't quite know. He had totally forgotten that the real reason why the four of them went to the theme park was because they had wanted to bring Horo and Anna closer together, and even turn them into a couple, if possible. Nevertheless, Hao still thought that their outing was genuinely enjoyable. He even got to learn something about his friend, Yoh; _he was afraid of heights_. Softly chuckling to himself, Hao replayed the scenes that happened in the ferris wheel before slowly drifting off to sleep..

* * *

><p>The following morning, Yoh woke up feeling refreshed, despite having a slight headache from sitting upright too fast. He groaned and rubbed his temples, hoping that would help ease the pain. As he did so, his eyes averted from his own bed to the messy futon mattress beside it, causing him to arch a brow in amusement. <em>Who could have slept here last night?<em> The only thing he could recall was looking up at the starry night sky with Hao last night; he couldn't remember walking home, or going to bed. Then again, it was already late when they had got onto the ferris wheel, so it was possible that he had fallen asleep and his mother had helped bring him home. The person who slept on the mattress the night before could have been his mother, too.

Yoh recalled of the time when he was just sitting right next to Hao, with Hao's arm around him, and his head on Hao's shoulder. Hearing Hao whisper to him about how he shouldn't be afraid of heights, et cetera. Just thinking about all these made Yoh blush deeply, and he quickly shook his head and brushed the embarrassing thoughts away. He should be having breakfast with his family downstairs, not sitting in bed thinking about Hao. Taking a deep breath, Yoh got to his feet and made his way to the washroom.

Yoh continued walking, but he stopped the moment he spotted a baby blue towel lying unattended on the floor before him. _Strange_; why was it here? Usually his mother would freak out upon seeing something like this, and then she would proceed to nag about how she had extra laundry to do, so this couldn't have been left by her. It could have been left by Redseb, since Seyrarm was far too _normal_ to do such things, but then again, the both of them were always taking a bath together. And, of course, none of the adults could have done something so foolish...

Then Yoh widened his eyes; _could he have done this the night before_? Sure, he may have no recollection of what happened, but he seemed like the only one in the entire household to leave his things lying around. _Shit_! If anyone found out, Keiko would kill him for sure! Yoh quickly picked up the towel and stepped into the washroom, holding the towel close to him.

Oddly enough, the towel was still wet. _Very wet_. It was as if someone had used the towel the night before, and then used it again this morning. Yoh furrowed his eyebrows; now that couldn't have been him. He couldn't recall waking up earlier that morning. "That's enough, Yoh...," Yoh whispered to himself. "Today is a Sunday.. I don't want anything to ruin it." With that, Yoh chucked the towel into the sink, closed the door and began taking his clothes off to get ready for a shower.

When he was done, he stepped out of the shower, grabbed the towel from the sink and began wiping his face first. He did it quickly at first, then he slackened his pace and began rubbing the towel on his face _slowly_. It was ridiculous, but Yoh had a good reason for doing so. Something about the towel seemed - no, _smelled_ familiar... It smelled minty, and cold, but somehow Yoh couldn't figure out where he could have smelled this before. Giving it no further thought, he wiped himself dry before putting on a fresh set of clothes.

Minutes later, Yoh stepped out of the washroom and made his way down the stairs, looking forward to a heavy breakfast on a weekend morning. He yawned as he entered the kitchen; he was, no doubt, still tired, for he had fallen asleep pretty late the night before, and the fact that he woke up later than usual that day didn't help, either. "Good morning," he greeted lazily the moment he made eye contact with almost everyone at the dining table.

"Good morning," Yoh's relatives greeted him back in the same old, monotone and lazy manner, with an exception of one particular voice, who had greeted the brunette in a different way:

"'Morning, Yoh."

Yoh blinked; he was sure he's heard the voice somewhere, though he was aware it did not belong to any of his relatives. He turned to face the owner of the voice, only to find a boy of his age, with long, dark tresses that went past his waist. Like the others, he was wearing a yukata. Apparently, he seemed to be having breakfast with the rest of his relatives. A content smile was spread widely across the boy's face as he stared back at Yoh, oblivious to the two kids Redseb and Seyrarm, who were playing with his long hair.

Yoh's cheeks flushed as he widened his eyes, "H-Hao!"

Hao waved back as another form of greeting, as he chewed on his sesame rice.

"Wh-wh-what are you doing here?"

"Your friend brought you home last night because you were asleep," Keiko informed her son calmly. "It was already late by then, so I had your friend stay here for the night."

_So that explains the untidy futon mattress. Does that mean Hao was sleeping in my room last night?,_ Yoh blushed deeper at the thought. _Was I using the very same towel Hao used, too?_

Keiko scrutinized her son closely, and did not fail to miss the deep blush form on his cheeks, something that Yoh has been doing quite frequent of late. She tried her best not to giggle - or even _smile_ - at the sight, and instead invited Yoh to join them, "Take a seat and have your breakfast, Yoh."

"Mm," Yoh nodded sheepishly, and proceeded to take the only vacant seat, which happened to be across Hao's. Not wanting to humiliate himself any further, he decided to eat his meal in silence.

After everyone had their share, they handed their empty rice bowls and other cutleries to Keiko, before making their way back to their rooms. While Yoh helped his mother clean some of the dishes, Hao ran up to Yoh's room to change into some decent clothes, before running down the stairs again. "I think it's about time I get going," Hao announced to the only two people nearest to the living room. After being led to the front door by Keiko, Hao turned and took a bow. "Thanks a lot for the hospitality!" he said.

Keiko laughed softly as she bowed back, "It's _us_ who should be doing the thanking."

The both of them exchanged blessings before bidding each other goodbye. Keiko also watched as the brunette walked away to goodness-knows-where. When she was sure Hao had left safely, she made her way back to the kitchen and helped Yoh with the dishes.

"I'm really glad you've found a friend like Hao," Keiko said as she began rinsing a rice bowl. Yoh remained silent as he slowly wiped the dishes dry, so she continued, "It would be nice if you had a girlfriend like that."

_Girlfriend_? Yoh's hand stopped moving, and even his heart skipped a beat. His cheeks crimsoned. _Did she just say 'girlfriend'_?

Thankfully, his mother had not seen the blush, but she laughed, nevertheless. "I'm asking you to take a step further with Hao," she said suddenly.

_Take a step further? But..._ Yoh arched a brow, "Are you telling us to...?"

"Well, there's nothing wrong with being in a relationship, is there?" Keiko replied, as she abruptly stopped her cleaning. Yoh almost dropped the dish he was holding; _was his mother really encouraging him to get in a relationship with Hao_?

Keiko shrugged, "Hao would make a good girlfriend."

Yoh twitched, _Wait a minute..._ "Mother," he called out. "Do you actually think Hao's a girl?"

It was Keiko's turn furrow her eyebrows, "Well, isn't she?" It was only after she received no decent response from her son that she realised how foolish she had been. Keiko immediately gasped and cupped her mouth with a hand, widening her eyes in the process. "Oh my...!" she yelped. "I didn't know that!"

Yoh laughed inwardly. Admittedly, he was really amused that all this while, his mother had mistaken his best friend for a girl! "It's okay," he said. "I guess that's part and parcel of Hao's life. After all, he has every countenance of a teenage girl." At that moment, Yoh wished someone would shoot him for saying that.

"Well, I suppose that _is_ true...," Keiko said, smiling. She then turned and got back to washing the dishes, while Yoh continued to wipe them.

Suddenly, after a short moment of silence, Yoh couldn't help but ask, "Mother.. if one of your children - uhm, seeing as there are me, Redseb and Seyrarm - were to get in a homosexual relationship... would you be fine with that?"

Keiko arched a brow at her son, producing a half-smile, "Why do you ask, dear? Are you implying that you're gay?"

_Crap_! _She was smart_! Mother knows best, after all. Yoh tried as best as he could not to blush as he tried to explain, "N-not really.. It's just, my friends and I were just talking about this the other day, and I found out that most of their parents didn't support gay relationships, and that sort of stuff. So I was wondering if you had the same mindset as them." Of course, that was a complete lie; Yoh didn't have many friends in school, and neither did he know about any of their family background, but he just _had_ to get rid of his mother's suspicion.

Keiko remained silent, as if pondering over something, before answering, "Well, if you thought that I had the same mindset as your friends' mothers, then you're right." Yoh blinked; somehow he wasn't expecting that kind of answer. After getting no further response from Yoh, Keiko continued, "Personally, I don't think it's right for someone to fall for someone of the same sex. I can't accept it, and I highly doubt your other relatives will approve of this as well." She made it seem as if Yoh was the one getting in a homosexual relationship.

Yoh nodded absentmindedly, when suddenly Keiko added, "_However_, if those people committed in homosexual relationships have good partners, then I suppose I wouldn't be too bothered by that. And by good partners, I mean those who truly care for you and love you for who you are." With that said, the two of them carried on with their cleaning in pure silence.

After two more hours of doing purely nothing but household chores, Yoh was finally beat, and decided to get some rest. He had a lot to think about, too. When he was done, he dashed up to his room and plopped onto his bed, then he got to thinking about what his mother had said earlier. He began to wonder that if he and Hao _did_ get in a relationship, then will his mother approve of Hao? If Hao had really been a girl, instead of a guy, would his mother really encourage him to be Hao's boyfriend? Then again, it was unlikely that the both of them would hook up, anyway.

Yoh then began to wonder that if they did, will they be able to have moments similar to the ferris wheel one more often?

Come to think of it, the more Yoh rambled on about his thoughts, the more tired he felt. Well, it _was_ a Sunday; his mother wouldn't mind if they were short of one person to help her with her work. Yoh snuggled into his pillow before drifting off to sleep.

**xx**

_"Asa-kun! Asa-kun!"_

_"Yoh-kun? What are you doing here?"_

_"Asa-kun, are you really leaving?"_

_"Yes... I'm going to move to America."_

_"But why? Can't you stay here?"_

_"I don't know why I have to go there, but it's not like I want to go too, you know?"_

_"Didn't we promise we'd be together forever?"_

_"I know, but—"_

_"How are we supposed to stay together now?"_

_"...I know; here—"_

_"What is this?"_

_"It's the bear-claw necklace I got from Hokkaido. Take it as a.. charm. In the future, I will try to find someone with this necklace, so flash it to me once you find me."_

_"How do I know if it's you?"_

_"Just flash the necklace and you'll find out."_

**xx**

Yoh woke up in cold sweat, panting heavily as he got himself to sit upright. It was a dream - no, more of a _memory_ - from his childhood, when his friend had left him. Yoh sucked in a deep breath as he rubbed his temples; this was the first time he had this sort of dream. Admittedly, he was happy that he had this dream; he got to find out that he called his friend _Asa-kun_, though he wasn't sure if that was just a nickname or not. Then Yoh frowned; his friend was probably still living in America, and this _Asa-kun_ could be just about _anyone_.

It wasn't long before Yoh heard his mother's voice calling for him from downstairs, but he chose to ignore it. He was far too taken aback by his 'dream' to do anything at the moment.

Not receiving any response, Keiko proceeded to walk up the stairs and search his room, only to find her son sitting upright in an awkward position on his bed. Sensing that something didn't seem right, Keiko slowly walked up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, as she sat right next to him on the bed, "Are you okay, hon?"

Yoh groaned, "I think so..."

"Are you still tired?"

"Sort of.."

Keiko decided to give her son a moment for him to settle down from his migraine, but Yoh spoke up anyway, "Mother.. do you remember the boy I always played with back when I was still in the childcare centre?"

Keiko arched a brow, "What boy?"

"You know.. the boy I _always_ played with when I was little? The one I called _Asa-kun_?"

"Oh!" Keiko brought her hand to her mouth, as her eyes lit up. "Didn't he move to America?"

"I know he moved to America!" Yoh snapped, then felt a feeling of remorse overwhelm him almost immediately, but he wasn't going to mention anything about that. "Do you know anything about him? _Anything at all_?"

"Hmmm, no.. Not that I know of..," Keiko pondered. She noticed a disappointed frown form quickly on Yoh's face, so she immediately added, "Why do you ask?"

Yoh blushed slightly as he looked down and shyly fiddled with his thumbs, "I would like to return him his necklace..." He lifted his head slightly, and fixed his gaze on a particular drawer.

Keiko sighed, but smiled, nevertheless, "I'm sure you'll find him soon. I can't make any promises, but if we have the money, we could go to America to find your friend." Keiko tried to reassure him as she stroked her son's back lovingly, like any mother would. What Keiko loved most about Yoh was that he rarely gets embarrassed whenever she showered him with her motherly love, even if she did so in public. Very often, Keiko would wonder if Yoh will continue to love her just as much once he becomes an adult, have a family of his own, et cetera, but Keiko would usually brush those thoughts away by keeping herself busy. Somehow, she gets _scared_ every time she thought of it.

Yoh remained silent, as undoubtful thoughts began unraveling in his mind. _Yeah, can't make any promises_.

"I'm surprised you still remember him, though," Keiko said suddenly.

Yoh looked up at his mother and blinked, "Huh?"

"When your friend left, you got very upset. You wouldn't eat or sleep or anything. You were always crying about him, and about how you had wanted to give him the star charms you made for him. He was already at the airport when you mentioned them, so your father took them and drove to the airport. He managed to pass those charms to your friend's parents before they joined the queue to board the plane, and he tried his very best to drive back home as quickly as he could, but...," Keiko's voice trailed off, and Yoh could see her getting teary-eyed._ This didn't sound good. At all. Involuntarily, only one question made its existence known in Yoh's head.._

"Mother...?" Yoh called out, his voice no louder than a whisper so as not to surprise his mother. "Did I cry at Father's...?"

Keiko simply turned to her son and arched a brow; she stared at her son, her mouth agape. She was unsure of what to say to her son. _Did he get the wrong idea_? Boy, her heart felt far too heavy for her to respond.

Not receiving any response from his mother, Yoh was taken aback.

_What kind of a son am I?_

_Do I really care for my friends more than I for my family?_

_Is that even a good thing, or a bad thing?_

Yoh leaned back on the bed and pulled the bed sheets over him, letting it cover his whole body completely. He decided not to say any more, for his own good. He didn't want to upset his mother any further, either. Keiko sighed at her son, and thought to herself, _You didn't let me finish..._

Eventually, she got to her feet and walked out of the room, proceeding to continue on her remaining chores.

* * *

><p><strong>Woohoo! This chapter is finally done! I'm so sorry if it confused you; my brain isn't working at the moment. Oh, and about what happened to Yoh's father... I'll explain in detail in one of the future chapters! So don't worry; just let your imagination flow so that I can blow your mind once I reveal... whatever I want to reveal. xD<strong>

**By the way, I'm proud to say that this chapter turned out better than I thought! Nothing much happened in here, so I decided to emphasize on it more than usual. Sort of. Yeah. *sucks at emphasizing without the use of profanities* xD Anyway, I'm so sorry if this chapter turned out bad; when I started typing this chapter down, I was already in the mood to write some HaoxMari fic! But I know most of my readers don't support that pairing. OTL**

**Writing this chapter made me a bit sad because Keiko's mother is just like mine.. but my mother's worst. She doesn't support gay marriages at all. Not that I'm gay; I'm actually bi. No, scratch that... I'm more of a pansexual person. But yeah whatever and to me, sex/gender doesn't matter buuuut my mother doesn't approve of it, and neither does my religion. *sighs***

**Anyway, I don't think I've got much to say... except that I've gotten tickets to the Vocaloid concert! *spazspazspaz* I can't wait to see Hatsune Mikuuuuuu. And even dance to her songs if I get the chance to (to be quite frank with you guys, for the past few days, I've been teaching myself the dance moves to some Vocaloid songs... Yes, I am a freak). Anyways, the exams are over for me, finally! But I usually don't update my fic until I get a review from my good friends (you all know who you are! xD) because I love talking to them so much, and not replying to their reviews make me sad... Soooo if I happen to be pretty slow on my updates, you can blame them. LOL. Just kidding!**

**On to the review replies!:**

**xx**

_**RoseblossomWarrior **_**- Let's go there. Now. We'll both pay. We'll bring Ren and Hao, and some new pairs of underwear (lolwhut). I promise Ren will have a slightly bigger role in this fic. He's not a main character, but why not? LOL. And I'm glad you did! Heehee. Whoops, I forgot what I wanted to say to you already. D'arvit! OTL**

_**SK-fan7**_** - OMG YOU DID? YOU REALLY THINK SO? OMGOMGOMG I AM SO HAPPY NOW *bearhugs you forever* And I'm glad this fic made you feel a bit better! I hope you'll feel much, much better reaaaally soooooon!**

_**Lisa**_** - OMG this is the first time I see something saying this fic/chapter is cute and I'm sooo happy! :D Thank you soooo much and I definitely will!**

**xx**

**Anyways, I'd like to apologise for not writing any birthday fics for anyone... LOL I fail. ;A; I just cannot think up of a plot interesting enough for anyone to read!**

**And before I go, I'd like to say that I love every single one of you, even those who just put this fic into your Favourites or Alerts and don't review at all, and if any of you guys happen to have a problem, then don't hesitate to come talk to me! Though I'm more of a talker than a listener, I hope that just by spilling everything out, you guys will feel better, and I'll try my best to make you guys feel better, too! Also, whenever someone tells me their personal problems, it makes me happy because this means that there are actually people who can trust me. :D So, yeah! If you ever feel the need, just come talk to me!**

**Sorry for any mistakes!**

**- A**


	8. En's Announcement

**. En's Announcement .**

The next few days of school have been completely normal for the rest of the teens. The usual lectures, assignments, projects, et cetera, given by the same annoying, disgusting and cruel teachers. Nothing much happened during those days, and everyone else was too busy with their work to even _think_ about the upcoming masquerade party. Everyone just wanted to get their work over and done with, and who knows, maybe during the party, they'd be thinking that all their hard work has finally paid off.

For Yoh and Hao, however, they spent their time wondering about what happened to their friends, Anna and Horo. Ever since the day they went to the theme park, Anna and Horo have been _much_ _closer_. What could have happened, then? Several students were both amused _and_ confused about said situation, but they dared not say anything about it for fear of being beaten up by Anna. Even Ren was no longer being teased and questioned about _his_ incident with Anna, despite the fact that he still had fangirls chasing him around and trying to make him taste their homemade Chinese food. How he was ever going to get a girlfriend, no one knows.

Sometime nearing the end of the school week, Yoh and Hao were having their lunch together, as usual. Sitting across each other at a small desk and munching on their simple meals, undisturbed, it seemed like a normal lunch to the both of them. Coincidentally, the two teens had brought a bento set each that day.

"It seems like our plan worked," Hao chirped, in the midst of chewing his yam cake.

Yoh nodded, though he wasn't quite sure if Anna and Horo were actually _dating_ or not. At least the kissing incident with Ren has been long forgotten.

Poking his chopsticks into the remaining yam cake, Hao playfully pouted, "You know... I realized that we've been hanging out more often these few days, and yet I don't know a _single thing_ about you."

Yoh blinked, _he was right_. They've been hanging out frequently nowadays, but they never really talked much about themselves. Yoh didn't know a single thing about Hao's family, where he lives, et cetera, and yet, the both of them were still _very_ good friends. Yoh then began to wonder if the same went for Anna and Horo's friendship as well.

Hao chuckled, "Well, the only thing I _do_ know about you is that you're afraid of heights, _and_ you're a mommy's boy, - " Yoh blushed in shame upon hearing this, but Hao continued, " - So, if you're living with so many relatives under the same roof, why are you the closest to your mother?"

_Quick, _Yoh thought. _Think of a decent answer; _his siblings Redseb and Seyrarm were too irritating, his grandmother was too cranky, his grandfather was far too relaxed for his own good, his uncle Yohken always was always getting drunk and pestering him to get a girlfriend, his other uncle Silva cares for his pets more than he cares for himself.. _Yep_, Keiko seemed to be the only sane person in the household. _Now, how to answer..._

"Because she's normal," Yoh replied blankly.

For a second, a faint frown formed on Hao's face, but it went as soon as it came. Yoh blinked his eyes several times to make sure he wasn't imagining things. Not that he wanted to see his frown again, - it was far too painful to - he just wanted to make sure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him.

"What about _your_ family?" Yoh couldn't help asking.

Hao remained silent for a moment - he seemed as if he was staring at something distant - before finally taking a deep breath and saying, "I don't live with them."

Yoh almost choked on his rice, "_Wha_—?" He took some time to slowly swallow his food before continuing, "You're kidding! What about your parents? Your uncles? Aunts? Cousins? _Siblings_?"

"I'm an only child," said Hao. "And I'm the only one in my family living in Japan." Hao paused and tilted his head, his gaze shifting to somewhere else, as if trying to recall something. "We used to live somewhere else. Our house there caught fire a few years ago. I was still at school when it happened, so my parents..., - " the faint, sad frown from before formed once again on Hao's face, " - none of my family wanted to go through the hassle of taking care of me; I was a pain in the ass back then. So I was sent back here to Japan. I was first accompanied by a guardian, but he left because he thought I was old enough to take of myself."

Yoh arched a brow, "So, you live alone?"

Hao nodded, before sighing, "Like you, I was pretty close to my mother. She was, - " Hao took this moment to chuckle, " - _one of a kind_."

Before Yoh could even respond, Hao had already leaned in closer to him. By then, their faces were only centimetres apart. Hao was smirking slyly, and he spoke in a low and husky voice, something Yoh had never heard before, "_That's why I like you so much._"

Yoh's face flushed, then the other immediately added, "It's because you remind me so much of my mother."

Hao then leaned back on his chair and laughed to himself, as he rested his cheek on a loosely-closed fist. He proceeded to stare at Yoh, who stared back, and for several minutes, none of them said a word.

"So," Hao spoke up again. "Where's your father?"

Yoh blinked again; it would bring back awful memories of the time when he discussed about it with his mother.

"Are you free this afternoon?" he asked, completely avoiding Hao's question.

Confused, Hao tilted his head, "Your fathe—"

"_Are you free this afternoon_?" Yoh repeated.

This time, Hao remained silent. He wasn't quite sure how to respond; he wasn't used to being ignored. His _fans_ would always listen to him and do whatever he told them to, and they always answered him whenever he spoke. Even his parents used to pamper him. But now that he was being ignored, he didn't know what to do or say. Not to mention the one ignoring him was his _friend_, and it wasn't Yoh's first time doing so, either. Even Anna wouldn't dare ignore him.

"Well...," Hao finally replied. He figured he should just 'play along' if he didn't want any trouble. "...Not really. I have a tournament this weekend, so I gotta train."

Yoh nodded blankly, "Okay..."

Realizing the mood wasn't very cheery and light at the moment, Hao leaned in closer to Yoh once again and smirked, "Why do you ask? Did you want to take me out on a date?"

Yoh flushed once more, and Hao got into a playful laughing fit.

* * *

><p>After a long tiring day at school, most students would only want to get home and have some rest, before continuing on their assignments. As for some others, well, it would take more than just nagging and persuasion to get them to do such things; they'd rather have their eyes sucked into the screen of a television, or a computer. As for the <em>oh<em>-so-charming Ren, usually he'd rather train himself with his own martial arts skills. School was never a number one priority for him.

That afternoon, after school, Ren tried as best as he could to reach home early, so he would have more time to train later on. Though school was quite a distance from his house, he still managed to reach home in less than fifteen minutes that day. Ren smirked to himself; _a new record_. Throwing his book bag onto the floor, he announced, "I'm home."

"Ren! Welcome back!" his sister, Tao Jun, cheered as she stepped out of the kitchen, an excited grin spreading widely on her face. "Father wants to see you."

Ren twitched, "_What_?"

"Father wants to have a word with you," his sister rephrased.

"What for?"

Jun shrugged, "He wouldn't tell me. I guess it's a man-to-man talk." She giggled for a bit, which made her little sibling grimace in disgust, before continuing, "Father is in the hall right now. It's best if you go to him right now."

Ren wasn't amused at all. Talking to his father was like walking into a lion's den, and if you screwed up, you'd get eaten up. Not that Ren was afraid of his father; he just hated him. His father was unfair and never really understood his only son. Heck, even if they were to talk right now, Ren wouldn't even listen to a single word his father said. They would get in heaty arguments all the time over petty things. Forgot to buy milk? _Argument_. Gave two eggs instead of three? _Argument_. Ren speaking in Japanese? _Argument_. With Ren and his father around, almost every day was different.

Having no other choice but to oblige, Ren began to walk briskly to the hall, where his father was waiting for him. Ren wondered what his father would talk to him about. Could it be about his martial arts training? Or maybe his schoolwork? Or even worse... _could they be going back to China_?

As the teen entered the hall, he saw his father's huge back facing him. The old man didn't seem to be doing anything, so Ren did nothing but simply stood at the hallway, waiting for his father to speak.

"Ren...," his father's proud, loud and low voice spoke up upon realizing that his son was now behind him. "...How was your day at school?"

"What did you want to talk about?" Ren asked, completely avoiding his father's question.

The older Tao couldn't help but laugh, "Getting straight to the point already? ...Exactly the son I brought up. I'm proud of you, Ren."

"What did you want to talk about, _En_?" Ren repeated, this time calling out his father's name, thinking it would make him stop rambling.

"_Humph_...," En frowned. "Ren.. you were born as a Tao, you live as a Tao, and you will die as a Tao.."

Ren twitched; whatever his father was going to talk about, didn't seem like a good thing. Whenever En spoke like that, Ren could expect nothing but bad news.

"Right now, you are a man, Ren," En continued. "You are on the second stage of living your life as a Tao."

"So? What is it tha—"

"For generations, we have been practicing the customs of the Tao's," En interrupted. "Even in this generation, you will do the same."

Ren arched a brow, "You're saying...?"

"_Tao Ren_... we have decided you, your future wife."

Silence followed. Then...

"_WHAAAAAT—?_"

* * *

><p><strong>I apologize for writing such a short chapter! My brain was practically dead while planning this... but, hey, at least we're making progress! Yes, only ten days left until the masquerade party! Let's do a countdown from now on, shall we? xD Well! I really am sorry for making you guys wait so long! Now it's the holidays and I can write whenever I want! 8D But at the same time, I'm taking part in NaNoWriMo and... yeah. xD<strong>

**I'll be writing a Shaman King fic for NaNoWriMo (as usual LOL). 83 It's supposed to take part during the Heian period of Japan, aka Asakura Hao's first life! Expect OC's. Then again, I don't think I'll be uploading the novel on here but, eh, we'll see about that! xD A really good friend of mine has read the summary and she told me that it sounded epic, and for some reason, that motivated me... xD But of course, with all the cheers I've been getting from my friends and family (actually, only my mother), I'm determined to put in lots of effort into this novel! And to anyone out there who are _also_ taking part in NaNoWriMo, I wish you guys the best of luck as well! :D (pssst, I'm fatalshamanhearts on NaNoWriMo, in case any of you want to read the summary of the novel. Just search it up on Google**—** /shot)**

**Back to the fic. Um. If you haven't realized it yet... there could be a possibility that Ren is becoming one of the main characters of this fic as well. 8'D**

**:D I am so glad my readers responded well to the last chapter! And also, I wish I had all of your mothers. They all seem to be... _okay_-ish with gays and stuff. My mother is really against it. Like, she knows I'm a huge fan of the actor Neil Patrick Harris but when she learned he was gay, she just... flipped. God, it was like a nightmare. I don't know if it was because she isn't used to these kind of things, or if it's just our religion. It pains me more when I start asking myself, how will I ever talk to my mother about my sexuality? I mean, she's _gotta_ know about it someday, am I right? She _is_ my mother. But it scares me to think of how she's going to react when she learns that her daughter is not a _normal, straight person_. I know I'm only just a kid but.. :( Anyway, review replies!:**

**xx**

_**Xbakiyalo**_** — It is, isn't it? Sometimes I envy the relationship between Yoh and his mother in this fic. LOL, thank you and I'm glad you liked it!**

_**SK-fan7**_** — Asa-kun comes from Asakura. :) And I wish I had a sweet and caring mother like Keiko, too! xD I thought this fic needed humour, so I decided, "Why not make Keiko mistake Hao for a girl?" xDDD I'd put the genre of this fic Romance and Humour, but there's more drama, so... yeah, you get the idea. xD Ahh! At first I wanted to make Yoh fall off his bed or something but I decided not to because I liked the towel scene more. DON'T WORRY I'll try not to give this fic a bad ending. Pshh, HaoxMari is actually my biggest OTP (now do you understand why I didn't ship HaoxYoh at first? xD). _Heck_, I shipped HaoxMari way before I started to ship YohxAnna. Hahaha!**

_**RoseBlossomWarrior**_** **— xD Well, perhaps Yoh thought the 'Asa-kun' comes from a first name, not from surnames (which, as you might already know, comes from Asakura). Hurhurr. I just imagined Ren being all tsundere and blushing and inviting you to his room. Wait, did that make any sense? I think not. Do you prefer Ren as a tsundere, though? xDDD FKSBKSFBF X-Laws as Vocaloids OMG I can't breathe! xDD When I saw this review the other day, I actually did a sketch where Jeanne was dressed like Hatsune Miku and the others were dressed like the other Vocaloids or just... half-naked, (like the dancers in the Moves Like Jagger video? xD) but I didn't finish it because I thought it was horrible. x'DDD****

_****Koorinosekai****_**** **— xD I'm glad I made a non-yaoi shipper like this fic! Thank you, and I will!******

_******TotalAmuto******_****** **— YES, MY DEAR. This fic is far more important than your research paper. COME WITH ME**— /shot. xDD Thank you so much, and I'm glad you like it!**********

**********xx**********

**********o.o Whoa, this A/N is loooong... I don't know how to end it... Uhh... How do you guys like the ending of this chapter? /shot**********

**********- A**********

**********P.S. I LOVE YAM CAKE********—******** uhm, I mean, sorry for any mistakes!**********


	9. Ren Is Awful At Lying

**. Ren Is Awful At Lying .**

Ren blinked his eyes several times, as his lips quivered in shock, "Y-you have _got_ to be kidding me, Father."

"How can we kid about something so serious?" En bellowed, and Ren did not fail to see his father twitching, even if he was standing behind him.

"Then.. this "future wife" thing is true?" Ren questioned, feeling uneasy.

"Yes.. Listen, Ren, have you heard of the X-Laws?"

Ren nodded, "They specialize in those super toy cars and gundams..."

"Good.. As you know, the CEO of that company..., - " En picked up a stack of papers and looked through them before continuing, " - Mr Marco Lasso... he has an adopted child, which he calls Jeanne.."

Ren rolled his eyes, "So you're making me marry this _Jeanne_?"

It was his father's turn to nod. "She is a very intelligent and stunning maiden, for her age," he explained. "You should be proud at the fact that you're getting engaged to such a bright person, Ren. You need someone like her.

"You are going to have to meet her this weekend," En added. "Saturday, to be exact. The two of you will have to be alone together. Get to know each other better."

Ren sighed deeply. "Okay, okay, I get it," he scoffed, before turning and storming into his room before En could say any more. The teen just couldn't bear to listen to another word from the old man.

Jun, who had been eavesdropping the whole time, poked her head into the room, with the lower region of her body still hiding behind the door. She stared at her father with confused _and_ shocked expressions on her face. At the same time, the old man chuckled, as if knowing Jun had been listening all along.

"He is just excited," he muttered, before browsing through the papers once again.

Jun sweatdropped and forced a laugh, "I-I don't think he's excited at all..."

**x-X-x**

After slamming the door close and throwing his book bag onto the floor before him, Ren plopped onto his bed and punched the empty space beside him with a fist. He took several deep breaths, as if trying to calm himself. His heart was racing. Unbearable warmth was beginning to overwhelm him; it wasn't the kind of warmth Yoh felt whenever Hao was around, of course. It was the kind that indicated that you were angry. So angry you could cry. Or even strangle a baby. That was how Ren felt, then.

Ren stared at the bare ceiling above him as he thought about what his father had just told him. _So, he was getting married to the daughter of the CEO of the X-Laws_... They had a huge business not only in Japan, but all over the world as well. They were especially popular with little children and their parents, and thus, Ren assumed this Marco guy and his family to be extremely rich.

Ren began to wonder what this _Jeanne_ was really like. Perhaps she had blond hair, and had some sort of angelic look on the outside, but on the inside, she was truly a bloodthirsty demon who could beat anyone - even _himself_ - to death. And if they happened to be alone somewhere, Jeanne might even try to kill him. Perhaps she was nothing like En had described; it was all an act to attract guys like himself, so this sadistic Jeanne could torture them however she liked.

Ren puffed up his cheeks; he didn't care if this Jeanne was really a demon or not, but he truly believed that he would rather marry one of his irritating fangirls, than a girl he was _never_ going to like. _Yes_, his father probably would never know the true definition of "bright", unless Ren made him meet his fangirls. _All of them_. And there was bound to be someone who was just as great - or even _better_ - than Jeanne. Someone who was smart, and definitely _not_ irritating.

A slight chill ran down Ren's spine as a plan began to form in his head. If he got one of his fangirls to pretend to be his girlfriend just for a day, then En _might_ call off the engagement. It was scary, but he had to do it. It seemed like the only thing he could do, then, to change his future forever. _Yes_! He was going to have to pick a random fangirl to role play as his girlfriend the following day. _He had to_!

The boy then turned to his side and sighed once more. _Boy_, did he hope everything would work out for him.

* * *

><p>"<em>Attention all students of Shinra Academy; the National Games 2011 are nearing, and our school's national volleyball team has applied to participate for the national competition. This Saturday, they will be against Funbari Hill High School to qualify for the Games. If you wish to support our fellow team, we look forward to seeing you at the beach at 8 this Saturday morning. Good luck, Shinra Academy<em>!"

The announcement made by Miss Lili, the head of the sports department, was followed by several cheers and squeals of all kinds from the students. The school had been made to stay back that day for announcements, as usual - and it was a good thing they did, too! For once in a long time, this one announcement was finally worth listening to.

Instead of going home like they were told to, several girls broke up into groups and scurried around the hallways, their chatters and excited squeals filling the whole campus. People who were not part of these groups either rolled their eyes (in jealousy), or watched them in amusement.

"Are you going to play in the competition, Hao_-sama_?" a fellow girl with long blond hair that were tiegj

d in pigtails blushed as she questioned the school's one and only star and hero, and she swayed around playfully as she did so.

Hao smiled sweetly at not only said girl, but all the girls surrounding him. "Of course," he cadenced. "Promise me you'll be there at the beach to cheer for me, yeah?"

"We'll cheer for you until the end, Hao-_sama_!" the girls squealed.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the hall, a girl with shoulder-length hazel hair decided to question the other star, "Ren-_sama_, will you go to watch the competition?"

Ren nodded smugly, "Absolutely."

The girls around him squealed as well, and the girl from before added, "That's great! You look excited, Ren_-sama_!"

"Certainly. You could say I'm looking forward to it."

Yoh watched as all the girls squealed once more as they bounced around the two school stars, before chuckling to himself and leaving the classroom. Hao was right about having to train for a competition; Yoh just didn't know that it was going to be a major one. Yoh didn't know why, but he felt obligated to walk really slowly in the hallway. Perhaps it was because he had the desire for Hao to talk to him.

Sure enough, barely less than a minute later, Yoh found himself smiling at said brunette before him.

Hao greeted the younger as he raised an arm and rested it on the wall nearby, making Yoh stop dead in his tracks. Hao couldn't help but smirk; he didn't fail to see Yoh's cheeks flushing. He watched as the younger tried to compose himself, ignoring his fangirls who just giggled and walked past them.

Yoh beamed. "Now I understand why you've been so busy lately," he said, after bowing to Hao as a form of greeting.

Hao chuckled, "Will you come?"

"To the beach?" Yoh arched a brow.

"To watch me!"

Yoh tried his best not to blush once more. Hey, _he tried_! "Sure," he replied sheepishly. "If you want me to."

Hao widened his grin, "Then I expect to see you at the beach tomorrow!" Hao waved goodbye to Yoh as he gets dragged to the other end of the hallway by the other members of the volleyball team. The team was screaming and cheering, followed by Matilda Matisse and her cheer squad.

To think that the school's star and hero actually asked him if he was going to watch him or not; it made Yoh flutter on the inside. It was as if Hao had just subtly asked him out. How would Hao react, then, if Yoh had said no? Would Hao be upset?

Yoh chuckled to himself, and shook his head foolishly. _Of course he would go_, as long as Hao was going to be there. No matter what. He didn't care if he had to attend a party, or a wedding; he just wanted to be with Hao.

Then again, if a sudden funeral were to be held... _Ah_, Yoh shook his head once again; he shouldn't think about these kind of things. Not at that moment.

Back in the shadows, a couple of girls were whispering among themselves, watching as the young brunette walked briskly and excitedly down the hallway.

"Is it me," one of them started. "Or did Hao just ask that kid out?"

The other nodded, "I believe so. To think Hao-_sama_ would actually like someone like _him_..."

"Shush, Kanna," the first one snapped. "If Hao-_sama_ really _does_ like him, then we have to respect that kid as well. Treat him like how we treat Hao_-sama_." She turned back to the brunette, and squinted her eyes suspiciously at him. "We cannot afford to waste any time. This weekend, we _have_ to check on them. We have to see if any of those two are getting on to something. Perhaps one of them might even use the opportunity then to take a step further in their relationship— or _friendship_, as you might call it. It could be that kid, it could even be Hao_-sama__._ We won't know until we find out for ourselves."

"But, Rutherfor," Kanna called out. "Isn't that considered '_stalking_'?"

"Well, that's what we're good at, am I right?"

"Are we going to have to take photos?"

"Ooh, plenty," Rutherfor smirked. "This will be a hit for sure."

The girls continued to watch as Yoh tripped over his own feet, causing them to shake their heads shamefully.

"_Hnnnnnn_," Horo began to groan, as he placed both his hands behind his head and walked out of the school campus. "Looks like the both of us can't make it on Saturday."

"It's not mandatory," said Anna, after taking a sip of warm, plain water from her water bottle. "We don't have to watch the tournament if we don't want to."

"But Yoh will be there," said Horo.

Anna couldn't help but roll her eyes, "He'll spend the whole day with Hao."

"But Hao won't be able to do the same for him!" the bluenette shrieked. "Come on, be a bit more supportive, will ya'? Hao's going to be playing in the tournament the whole time, and Yoh will be lonely in the meantime. Besides, this is important to Hao. If Hao sees Yoh upset, he won't be able to concentrate in the tournament, and the team will lose for sure. If the team makes it for the Games, Yoh will be happy, then he'll be happy, too."

"Since when were _you_ so caring?" Anna scoffed. "I've been a friend of Hao longer than you think, bluehead, — " Anna ignored Horo's twitching vein that suddenly protruded from his forehead, " — and I bet you, Hao wouldn't care if they got qualified for the Games or not. He'll be happy as long as he gets to spend some time with Yoh."

Horo shrugged as he proceeded to scratch the back of his neck, "But, knowing Yoh, he'll probably..."

The two teens sighed before completing the sentence in unison, "..Persuade Hao to put in his all and qualify for the Games..."

* * *

><p>That afternoon, Ren entered his house with a lighter heart. He could do nothing to hide the smug smirk on his face, as if he was plotting something evil, such as burning up the whole school into ashes. Hearing the main door being closed, Jun popped out of the kitchen and beamed upon seeing her little brother in the room.<p>

"Welcome home, Renny!" Jun greeted, ignoring the disturbing sight of Ren's _tongari_ bolting upright and getting longer. "How was your day at school? You seem content."

Ren let himself cool down, before smirking once more. "It went well," he managed to say without grinning too widely. Of course he was happy; he didn't have to go through the dangerous idea of making one of his fangirls role play as his girlfriend. "Where's Father?"

Jun blinked, confused. The boy before her wasn't acting like her younger sibling at all, "He's in the dining room, having his lunch. ...Did something happen, Ren? You are... different."

"Nothing happened at all," Ren cadenced as he made his way hastily to the dining room, which for some odd reason, was far from the kitchen.

"Father!" Ren yelled as he pushed open the doors of the dining room, revealing his father's huge back. He found his father gobbling down on a piece of roasted duck and three bowls of rice, followed by a stick of fishcakes and a plate full of leafy vegetables, topped with oyster sauce. He was creating a mess all over the room, but he didn't care, and continued eating anyway.

The older Tao ignored his son completely, and reached out to grab some more pieces of roasted duck.

Ren cringed at the sound of bones crunching against his father's tough teeth, and tried his best to brush the mental images off his mind.

"Father..," Ren called out, his voice much softer this time, but still bold as always. "I've got something to tell you..." En continued munching on his food, so Ren decided to get straight to the point, "I'm not free this Saturday."

The only response Ren received after a long moment of silence was a disturbing grunt from his father.

"I can't meet Jeanne this Saturday," Ren added with much confidence. "My school's having a volleyball tournament at the beach and I'm going to watch it."

En chuckled, "Then we shall postpone the meeting to Sunday—"

"I'm not free on that day, either," Ren snapped. Of course, that was a complete lie.

En arched a brow, "Hmm? Now, why is that?"

Ren needed to come up of an excuse— _fast_! One which his father would actually fall for. If Ren said that there was going to be another tournament held on Sunday, En would get suspicious and call up the school. Ren couldn't go out on that day as well as En would probably instruct one of their butlers to follow him. There was only one option left - _yes_, the scary one. The one Ren thought he was _never_ going to use. Well, he was wrong. But by hook or by crook, Ren _had_ to use it.

"I have a girlfriend!" Ren said firmly and boldly, as he struggled to keep a straight and stern look.

The sound that just escaped from his father's throat was _beyond_disturbing; it sounded like En was choking _and_ close to throwing up at the same time. When he had finally composed himself, En gulped down several gallons of lukewarm white tea before saying, "_Girlfriend_, you say? ...Why do I know of this only now?"

Suddenly, En laughed loudly to himself before his son could even answer him. "How about this? On Saturday, you bring Jeanne with you to watch the tournament. Perhaps teach her a thing or two about this.. _volleyball_ thing that your school is so proud of."

Ren furrowed his eyebrows; _was Jeanne an idiot_?

"Then, on Sunday," En continued. "You bring your girlfriend here, so us Tao's can check on her and discuss on whether she's really ideal to be a wife of a Tao or not.

"I hope you understand, Ren," En added, taking a bite out of his lotus mooncake. "That our culture should never be taken for granted, and it should never be toyed around with. If you, of all people, were to violate these terms.. Then only can the deities and gods know _what_ we, as Tao's, will do to you."

Ren nodded, and left the room without saying a word. Secretly, he wanted to lock himself in his room and scream into a pillow, but there was no time for him to be childish. His plan had backfired, and he acted without thinking. He was still going to meet Jeanne, and even worse; he was _forced_ to find a temporary girlfriend! That was _double torture_, despite the fact that En still fell for his lie. Everything was going to go very wrong for him now. What was God trying to tell him, anyway? Why did he have to go through all these things?

* * *

><p><strong>HURHURR SEE WHAT I DID THERE? REN - LIAN - LOTUS - LOTUS MOONCAKE DURRRR— shot**

**Phew! Sorry for making you guys wait so long! I really like this chapter, but I'm pretty sure 80 percent of it doesn't make any sense, thanks to my failed planning. xD I'm sorry this chapter is focused more on Ren. Next chapter will be focused on the main couple, I promise! Oh, and guess what? Only nine days left until the Masquerade party! Whooo! *dances***

**I hate how all the Tao's are so OOC in this. xD I can't help that I'm so hyper. And DUN DUN DUNNNNN, new characters! 8D There are Rutherfor, Kanna, Marco and Jeanne! Is this getting exciting enough for you guys, yet? I bet not. xD ANYWAY. I am so sorry that I made the X-Laws a toy-making company; you could say they're as big as that BANDAI toys company, even. Blame it all on Takei's fetish for super cars! Eh. Boys will be boys. xD**

**Now then.. review replies!**

**xx**

**_SK-fan7 — _Oh, no, allow me to explain! 83 Basically, Hao's parents just kinda.. uh, passed away during the fire. As Hao said, he was at school when it happened, so he had absolutely nothing to do with it! Hahaha, perhaps you guessed right about this chapter? I wouldn't know :P But yeah! I'll explain about Yoh's dad in a few chapters, so don't worry!**

**_RoseblossomWarrior_ — OHHHH. I just made you hate _her_ more, didn't I? 8D dahdbaihdyghbf Ren and Hao in tsundere form 8D *kersplodes* Doooon't worry, everything will work out! I promise! 8D**

**_Alice_ — Ooh, I'm so glad! I hope you find this chapter interesting as well!**

**_TotalAmuto_ — x'D I'm afraid you're going to have to wait a whiiiile longer for that! Really, just a few chapters! D: I hope I don't bore you!**

**_funni neko_ — Haha, don't worry! Here's more for you! I'm glad you're liking this fic! :D**

**xx**

**This chapter made me want to write everything that is related to China, and its culture. I love it just as much as I love the Japanese culture! WHY CAN'T I BE CHINESE? OTL But, hey, I hope some of you learn a thing or two about the Chinese or Japanese culture from this fic (if you do, TELL ME /shot) xD Ooh, and I just want to say.. Lotus Mooncake is absolutely delicious and very chewy, and it's the only reason why I look forward to mooncake festivals here (I wonder, do the countries in the West have such festivals as well?). AND! The white tea... isn't really tea. It's just really, really, really hot plain water. I don't even know what the Chinese were thinking when they created such a drink LOL.**

**OOH yes, and somewhat an announcement; I've decided to rename my OC for the HaoxOC fic, Kai. I had forgotten that OC of mine for so long xD My reasons would be because my OC is supposed to be somewhat... rough and tomboyish person, and Kai is perfect for that role. Kira didn't quite fit - even though she's still rough and all - but she's supposed to be a tsundere (blame it all on the people who call me "tsundere" IRL D:) and I don't think having a tsundere in the fic would work. xD My other OC Shiori is far too calm and quiet-natured to even _be_ in the fic, so yeah. Kai was my first OC; how can I ever forget her? D;  
>On a side note, I'll try my best to give said fic a much lighter theme. Like anime such as Ouran, Nodame Cantabile, et cetera. Too much drama for the time being, and you guys just <em>know<em> perfectly well how much I love to tease you all. xP**

**I suppose that is all. :D Thank you, and sorry for any mistakes!**

**- A**


	10. Don't Leave

**. Don't Leave .**

The following hours went past like a flash. Before anyone knew it, it was already Saturday morning. Students and even teachers who either participating or supporting their team were already up and getting ready to proceed to the beach. It was a weekend morning like no other. For once, the students and teachers were actually eager to get up early in the morning.

As Ren slowly made his way to the living room, he grumbled a couple of profanities pertaining his life. He pushed open the large wooden doors that led to the living room, and found his father's tattooed back facing him. The old man snickered upon his entrance. "Glad to see you're up already," he remarked. "Jeanne is waiting for you outside with her Father. The both of you will be driven to the beach. ...The tournament _is_ at the beach, right?"

Ren ignored the question; he was more bothered about something else. "_Driven_? You mean she brought her chauffeur along?"

"She comes from a well-to-do family," En responded. "Now don't bother too much about that; you have to hurry now. You cannot give the Lasso's a bad impression of the Tao's."

Ren inadvertently gulped before stepping out of the house, through another pair of large doors. He began to walk down the path towards the main road, where the girl Jeanne and her father was waiting for him. Ren examined the two; Jeanne had long wavy silver hair, and was dressed in some long formal dress, which was probably tailored in another country. The blond man - whom Ren had assumed was her father, Marco Lasso - was wearing a similar-looking suit. The both of them were standing right beside a tacky white limousine.

_Figures_.

Jeanne and her father took a bow the moment Ren reached them, and Ren did the same.

"Good afternoon," Marco spoke with an accent Ren didn't recognize. "I am Marco Lasser, father of this little angel, Jeanne. We are most pleased to meet you."

"I'm elated to meet you too, sir," Ren lied, trying to appear _and_ sound as calm as possible. "I am Ren, of the Tao's."

Marco nodded. "I do hope you will take superb care of my daughter today. She may be a little shy at first, but don't hesitate to talk to her, nevertheless. She's _my precious_, so I do wish for you to bring her back to me safely in _one piece_."

Ren shifted his gaze to the girl next to Marco, and had only just realized that she was much shorter than Ren himself. That made the teen happy, at the least. The girl had on an innocent, child-like smile, with her cheeks flushed. Marco called her "_little angel_". However, that still didn't prove that Ren's interpretation of Jeanne being a demon was false. Only the great _kami_ knew what evil lay hidden under that smile.

Jeanne took another bow, and Ren bowed as well, as he forced a friendly (at least he _thought_ it was) smile to greet her.

"Like I said, she _is_ my precious," Marco suddenly added. "So I hope you will keep her safe."

Well, Ren hoped the man would stop; he was beginning to think that Marco was a little creepy. He couldn't be more wrong. "...Unless, _Tao Ren_," the man continued, his voice now much lower and sinister than before. "..I will be _very_ disappointed in you..."

That was enough to send shivers running down Ren's spine. The way Marco had stressed on his full name sounded cold and harsh. Somehow, Ren couldn't wait to get to the beach now.

Smiling, Marco invited Ren into the limousine, followed by Jeanne. Sitting in the driver's seat was a tall man, also in a suit, who didn't bother to pay any attention to the both of them. He must get paid well. Ren and Jeanne couldn't help feeling awkward as they realized that the both of them were sitting right next to each other. Jeanne turned to the window and waved to her father before the engine got started. Soon, they were already on their way to the beach. Ren spotted Marco making his way to his house; their fathers were probably going to have some kind of weird, yet serious, family talk.

Everyone in the vehicle remained silent; it wasn't like they had the intention to speak in the first place. Ren couldn't help turning to his wristwatch every few moments; it was still early, but he just couldn't wait to get there, to be free, to breathe in the fresh air which he had for so long took for granted. He didn't like sitting in this cramped limousine - it made him feel uncomfortable, and trapped, as if he was in a bird in a cage.

"Luchist," a soft child-like voice began. It took a while for Ren to realize that it belonged to Jeanne. That was the first time he heard her voice. "Please drive a little faster."

The chauffeur said nothing, but almost immediately, Ren felt the vehicle pick up speed. He sighed. He was secretly thankful to Jeanne, although of course he wasn't going to say that out loud.

The journey continued just like that, in silence.

**x-X-x-X-x**

The beach was already packed with students from Funbari Hill High School and Shinra Academy. Well, most of them were from Shinra Academy; nearly the whole school was there. How could anyone miss a chance to see their favourite hero in action? With the whole of Shinra's volleyball team already getting ready for the match, they could do little to avoid the squealing fangirls who were cheering Hao's name. And the tournament hadn't even started yet.

On the other hand, Ren's fangirls only sulked in silence as they watched their prince charming sitting right next to a girl. A girl they didn't know. _Heck_, she wasn't even from their school, and neither was she from Funbari Hill High. She was simply smiling at everything, oblivious to Ren's twitching _tongari_.

Yoh was with Anna and Horo, though they were paying more attention to each other than they were to him. Yoh was already beginning to regret ever hooking them up, for he wasn't quite used to being alone and ignored all the time. If only Hao could forfeit his match and join him by his side.. But Yoh knew he was being selfish.

After the long wait, the referee from Funbari Hill High whistled and pointed to the court. The players understood and took their positions. The referee stood in the center, one hand holding on to a volleyball, and the other on his whistle. He stayed in that position for a few seconds before he finally blew the whistle and threw the ball in the air. He swiftly avoided the players who surrounded the ball quickly, and managed to catch a glimpse of one of the players slamming the ball to the other side. The player was from Funbari Hill High.

The crowd cheered as the ball flew over the net, and a player from Shinra jumped and slammed the ball with twice as much force, sending it flying out of the court. The cheers from their supporters got louder, and the crowd practically got wilder, too. A goal in less than fifteen seconds!

The player who scored smirked and playfully winked at the audience, causing the girls to giggle and the guys to roll their eyes. Then the game continued.

It was the other team's turn to serve the ball. The captain threw the ball high in the sky, and, wrapping his hands together and extending his arms, deliberately passed the ball to the other team.

Hao came into the picture. He extended his arms to bounce the ball back into the sky, before jumping and slamming it, sending it flying out of the court once more. The crowd raised their arms and cheered even louder. Another goal!

Barely two minutes had passed when Hao scored once again. Already, he was creating rivals from the other team, but he didn't seem to mind. Yoh was just about to cheer for Hao, but figured that that would only cause Hao to lose focus on the tournament, so he kept his mouth shut. Even if most of the girls in the audience were doing it. Somehow Yoh felt that if _he_ cheered, Hao would be affected. In a negative way.

Shinra Academy might be in the lead with only a mere point, but with Hao in the team, everyone was sure Shinra would emerge as the winner. And nothing could prove their predictions wrong.

**x-X-x-X-x**

After the tournament, the team and supporters from Funbari Hill High walked back, disappointed. But what did they expect? They were against one of the best school teams in Tokyo. And this was just _one_ school.

As a form of celebration, the students and staff from Shinra Academy decided to spend the rest of the day partying at the beach. Picnics, swimming, and more volleyball games. Some even rented bicycles or kites. By the time the sun was down, everyone was beginning to feel hungry, and were already starting up a barbecue. It had only been the first match of the national games, and yet they were having a huge celebration of their victory.

Yoh kicked the sand, ignoring the fact that his shoes were getting uncomfortably sandy in the process. He let the tide wash in and soak his feet. He stared at the horizon in melancholy. Anna and Horo had gone to goodness-knew-where, Ren was busy with his new 'friend', and Hao never once walked away from his team and the other jocks (not to mention, his fans). Usually, Yoh wouldn't mind, because Hao had other friends, too, but frankly speaking, Yoh wished Hao would at least spend some time with him. Even if all they ever did was talk. That was all Yoh really wanted - to spend time with Hao.

Of course, the author of this fic has decided that obvious miracles should happen. And so when Yoh was just about to give up and head home, he turned, only to meet the eyes of his one and only - Asakura Hao.

Hao gave the younger a small smile; there was no doubt that the brunette was exhausted. "Did you enjoy yourself?" he asked. "By watching me play, I mean."

Something about Hao made Yoh feel embarrassed, and as soon as he realized what it was, he blushed deeply; Hao was shirtless. Well, most of the guys were, since it had been such a warm day. But to see _Hao_ shirtless... Yoh only managed to nod sheepishly; it was going to take him a hell lot of effort to speak to Hao in such a situation.

Hao tilted his head playfully to the side, as if considering something. "Would you like to come to my house? It's not far from here."

Yoh's jaw dropped. "Y-you live around here?"

Hao shrugged. "I can just take a bus from here. It is pretty close. Come on." Without further hesitation, Hao grabbed Yoh's wrist and dragged him to the nearest bus stop, ignoring the odd comments and stares he was getting from the people around him. Yoh could do little to stop Hao as well; besides, he had always wanted to know where Hao lived.

The teens boarded the bus, and after a ride of about ten minutes, they alighted the vehicle. They still had to walk a long way until they reached their destination. By examining his surroundings, Yoh realized that they were at the outskirts of Tokyo. He had never been there before, but he could still tell, thanks to the wide range of not-so-popular stores there – cheap bars, factories, and even teahouses that could have been in business for centuries. The streets were dark, despite the large number of lampposts in the area, and gave off a creepy atmosphere. Yoh was scared, but Hao didn't seem to mind at all. Perhaps this was normal.

The two made a left, walked some more, until they finally reached a number of flats. Flats were buildings that consisted of one-floor apartments, and were very popular with those who could not afford an actual house. They took a lift to the fifth floor of one of the flats, walked down the eerily long corridor, and came to a door that read '25' on it. Hao took out his keys - Yoh had only just realized that Hao was _still_ shirtless - and opened the door. He stepped inside, followed by Yoh, and closed the door behind them.

Yoh took a look around. It was a little bigger than the average apartment, and it was only decorated with simple furniture and designed in a simple manner. It was spacious, nevertheless, and, unlike Yoh's house, there was some _zen_-like atmosphere everywhere.

Hao turned to Yoh and shrugged shamefully. "It's not a fancy place, but.. make yourself at home." Hao's welcoming smile made Yoh smile as well.

"I think I like it here," said Yoh, stepping further into the house. He caught a cluster of_ hina_ dolls on the coffee table in the middle of the living room.

"Do you mind waiting for me while I go take a quick shower and cook up a meal for us?" Hao spat quickly.

That left Yoh staring at him, his mouth agape, unsure of what to say. Despite that, Hao still ushered Yoh to the couch and gave him instructions to switch on the television, before dashing to the washroom. While Hao was busy, Yoh scanned the room once more; admittedly, he was curious, and wanted to walk around and examine the apartment, but he didn't feel comfortable at the thought of that, so he laid back on the couch and waited for Hao in silence.

Once Hao was dressed, he quickly fished out the necessary utensils from the drawers and got started on cooking. In less than a minute, Yoh could already smell the blissful fragrance of a chef's cooking from the kitchen, and his stomach began to make noises that probably sounded like a sick groaning man to him. Yoh mentally scolded himself for being so piggish, but he couldn't help it; he hadn't eaten anything decent that day.

As he waited patiently for the food, Yoh could hear his friend humming a simple tune to himself behind the sizzling sound of the frying pans.

No more than twenty minutes later, Hao walked out of the kitchen with two lacquered bowls of rice in each hand. He placed them on the coffee table - tossing the _hina_ dolls aside - and walked back to the kitchen. He came out moments later, holding a tray that was full of dishes such as fried eel, omelette and _tempura_. Alongside them were two glasses of warm red tea.

Hao placed the tray carefully on the table and knelt on the floor, and Yoh did the same. Hao smiled as he passed a pair of thin metal chopsticks to the latter. "I'm sorry I can't make anything fancy," he began. "But I can't just leave you starving." Yoh couldn't help but laugh.

The two then clasped their hands together and chanted in unison, "I gratefully partake."

Hao urged his friend to tuck in first, which made Yoh uncomfortable since his mother had always given him lectures about letting the older ones eat first. But since Hao insisted on it, Yoh finally prepared his chopsticks and popped a strip of eel into his mouth. It was quite a sensation when he took the first bite. In fact, every time he chewed, his mouth would only be filled with the savoury juice of the fleshy eel. Yoh didn't even dare to compare Hao's cooking with his mother's; this was _heavenly_! His greediness getting the better of him, Yoh extended his arm and took several more strips of eel for himself.

Hao smiled. At least his cooking wasn't bad.

For the rest of dinner, Hao had only small portions of food while he watched in amusement as Yoh stuffed himself.

Once they were done, Yoh helped Hao clean the dishes. They then went back to the living room, where the both of them knelt on the floor once again, having with them only a glass of their leftover tea each. Hao took a sip from his tea - it was already lukewarm by then - when he caught sight of the mess he made with the _hina_ dolls. He grabbed them and arranged them neatly on the table, as if they were some antique treasures.

"Those look precious to you," Yoh commented, watching Hao's hands.

Hao nodded. "They're a gift from my mother," he said, and explained about how his mother had always shared with him the stories of her childhood days. Apparently, in her time, _hina_ dolls and thread balls were popular toys, and every parent would struggle and worked really hard just to earn the money to buy such toys for their own children. Then, seeing as how she no longer had any use for the _hina_ dolls from her time as a child, she gave them to Hao as a gift. That was when he was just a kid.

The two teens continued to talk for a while more, until Yoh threw a glance at the clock and gasped. "I-it's late!" he shrieked, as he quickly got to his feet and bowed, just to be polite. "I'm sorry," he added. "But my mother would kill me if I don't get back any sooner!" Yoh had only just turned to the door when Hao got to his feet as well.

Before the younger could make another step, he felt his wrist being yanked tightly by a much bigger and stronger hand. He remained in his spot, unable to move, and could barely just make out the words his friend was whispering.

"_Don't.. leave..._"

~ **x-Y-z-X-y-Z-x ~**

* * *

><p><strong>Derp ending is derp. 8D<strong>

**Gah.. I'm so sorry for not updating this sooner, for making this chapter so pointless it makes you want to kill yourself, for the awful ending, for the lack of Yoh-ness, for everything. D8 I am extremely exhausted right now but figured it wouldn't be nice to just.. _not_ update my fic. Besides, after being pestered by three readers, I decided it's time I start _writing something_ anyway. xD**

**Uhm, uhh... Happy belated Valentine's Day! ...Or something.. A friend just confessed to me and I'm not sure of how to react, so I guess that explains my odd behaviour (am I acting weird?). I'm so sorry... Too many things are happening too fast and I'm beginning to get sick of it all, though I try my best not to show it. *sighs***

**xx**

_**R.O.N. **_**— Yes, "wtf Ren" indeed. 8'D I HOPE YOU LOVE HIM HURDURR.**

**_TotalAmuto_ — Now that I think about it, I don't know how many chapters it will be until Yoh's father comes in the story. o.o Are you sure you want to wait that long? Will you stop reading once he makes his appearance? D:**

**_RoseblossomWarrior_ — xD Oh, it just _had_ to be Jeanne. I'm sorry. Don't kill her. I mean, kill her. If you want to. She's not important, anyway. *coughsplattercough* OH, BTW. You'll get to know what Ren will do. Soon. SOON. I think you'll love it. I _hope_ you'll love it. *cowers***

**_cluckyduck78_ — I was so astonished to read that PM of yours. And apparently I am too lazy to reply you via PM as well. xD Thank you so much! I hope this update made you happy~ Thanks again! *huggles***

**xx**

**By the way, this chapter is dedicated to SK-fan7. Welcome back~**

**Thank goodness tomorrow's the weekend. Time to sleep all day and all night and never wake up ever again. *collapses in exhaustion***

**- A**

**P.S. Sorry for any mistakes.**


	11. Unexpected

**. Unexpected .**

The younger boy froze, his eyes widened and his limbs gone stiff. His mind was a total blank, and no matter how many times he tried, he still failed to produce a legit meaning from his friend's previous words.

He regained his composure, although it did take quite a while, and very slowly, he turned to face his friend. The one who had just invited him over to his house. He who had just cooked up a scrumptious meal for the both of them, the one who earned a guaranteed spot in the preliminary rounds of the national volleyball game. Yoh took his time to examine his friend as much as he could.

Hao had his face lowered; he was staring at the floor below him. Nevertheless, Yoh didn't fail to notice the pained expression on his face. His eyes weren't bright any more, and a frown now presented itself at where his smile used to be.

"Stay here," Yoh heard Hao whisper, and at the same time, he felt the grip on his wrist getting tighter. Yoh's heart almost skipped a beat; _what was going on_? Why was his friend so out of character? Why did he want him to stay? How was he supposed to respond? Yoh tried as best as he could to remain calm, although he knew that things would only get worse if he were to stick in this situation any longer.

"...I can't," Yoh managed to speak, although his voice was just as soft and shaky as his friend's. Yoh knew that for now, he could only speak nothing but the truth. "My mother would kill me if I—"

"Can't you get her permission to stay here for the night or something?" Hao snapped, his voice slightly raised. He was still facing the floor, and although the sad expression was still present on his face, Yoh knew that deep down, Hao was angry. Angry at _him_. It was already so obvious when he spoke. But _why_?

Yoh decided that there was only one thing he could do, then. He gently shook his friend's hand off his wrist; Hao let go off him almost immediately, and Yoh quickly dug his hand into his pocket to fish out his cell phone. He dialled his mother's number before placing the phone next to his ear, and he waited impatiently for her to answer his call. What was really ten seconds felt to him like five hundred years.

Hao remained rooted in his spot. He didn't know if it was because he couldn't move, or because he _didn't_ want to move. He wanted so badly to listen to the one-sided conversation between Yoh and his mother, but he couldn't, because his own disturbing thoughts and emotions were distracting him. Besides, it didn't sound like they were having a nice chat.

Finally, after minutes of begging and a little arguing, Yoh hung up. As he slowly proceeded to keep his cell phone away, he couldn't help but turn to his friend again; the same pained expression was on his face, but it was also accompanied with another one. Hao now looked.. confused. Frustrated. Perhaps both?

"I... I can stay for the night," Yoh said, hoping those were the words Hao wanted to hear.

Hao's face lit up almost instantly, but it still wasn't enough to hide the slight tints of sadness that were present in his pupils. Now Yoh was just confused; he could hardly tell what Hao was feeling any more. He couldn't tell if the smile on the other's face was a fake, or if the sadness in his eyes were permanent. He didn't know, and he wasn't sure if he _wanted_ to.

"You can go wash up," Hao said as he suddenly tossed a towel at Yoh, catching the latter by surprise. Yoh had been too distracted with his thoughts that he didn't notice when Hao had gone to grab the towel for him. "I'll prepare the bed for you while you're at it," Hao added. Yoh did not fail to catch the slight grin on his face then. It looked genuine, but Yoh wasn't sure. Was Hao back to normal now?

Yoh nodded in response, and he watched as Hao jogged back to his room to perform his chore. He decided to push all his disturbing thoughts aside, while he replaced them with good ones. He was standing in Hao's apartment. He was going to stay there for the night, and he was going to take a shower in Hao's washroom. Yoh slowly lowered his head to examine the damp red towel in his hands. _Could it be the very same towel that Hao had used earlier? _A sudden chill of excitement ran down Yoh's spine, and Yoh had to remind himself that he wasn't alone in the apartment, before he turned and bashfully made his way to the washroom.

Yoh couldn't help but notice the several different bottles of shampoo and conditioners there. It looked like a typical washroom that would belong to a girl, or a salon store. Nevertheless, it didn't bother Yoh much, since he knew that Hao had to keep a good physical image anyway.

Besides, these were the stuff that always made Hao smell so good, right?

**x-X-x-X-x**

"_Sooo_... why did you want me to stay here for the night?"

Yoh noticed Hao's temple twitching slightly, and immediately he regretted asking the latter. He had just finished his shower not too long ago, and then he spent the next five minutes crying in embarrassment because he insisted on locking the bedroom door while he put on his (or rather, _Hao__'s_) clothes, and for a while, Hao couldn't stop teasing him about it. When he finally did, though, the two had found themselves sitting in the living room, and since the atmosphere between the two had settled down for bit, Yoh couldn't help but ask.

Hao looked almost hesitant to answer, as he shifted in his seat. "...I haven't had a visitor in a while."

Yoh arched a brow. "You mean those popular kids have never been to your house before?" Hao shook his head.

"Not even Anna?" Yoh added quickly, only to receive the same response from the older.

Yoh sighed inwardly. He couldn't tell if Hao was being trustworthy. Hao hardly told any lies, but Yoh believed that perhaps he might have another — a _better_ — reason as to why he wanted Yoh to stay. Hao wasn't just going to tell him, though; he knew that for sure.

After a while of pondering, Yoh got to his feet and turned to the bedroom. "I'm going to bed," he announced, and began walking towards the room. Hao nodded, and proceeded to lay back on the couch, placing his hands casually beneath his head.

Yoh noticed, and he paused in his tracks to turn to Hao. "...Are you really going to sleep on that?" he asked, "In that uncomfortable position?"

Hao shrugged. "I can't help that there's only one bed in the room."

"You tell me to stay, and yet you can't even bring yourself to sleep in the same room?" Yoh nagged.

"I don't have an extra mattress."

Yoh wasn't pleased. "I'm not sleeping then," he said, frowning. His words didn't fail to capture his friend's attention. "Either you go to sleep on the bed, or we don't sleep at all."

Hao blinked. _The stubborn side of Yoh_. This was nothing he was used to, but definitely something worth remembering. He opened his mouth to respond, but not a sound escaped his lips. Hao didn't have a clear idea on what he wanted to say, anyway. Having no choice but to give in to his friend's (concerned) nagging, he slowly stood up and followed Yoh into his room. A whole sleepless night with Yoh sounded tempting, but Hao was beat from the game._  
><em>

Once they were both in the bedroom, Hao grabbed a nearby chair and pulled it over, placing it right beside the single bed. "How 'bout," he began, turning to sit on the chair. "_You_ sleep on the bed, while _I_ sleep on this?"

Yoh furrowed his eyebrows. "Isn't that uncomfortable?" he questioned, but Hao simply shook his head.

Yoh proceeded to sit on the bed, but he couldn't stop staring at Hao for some reason. Probably because he was trying to decipher the older's thoughts. The childish smile on his face made it look like he was hiding something. Playfully, Yoh asked, "Are you going to watch me while I sleep?"

"Don't be silly," Hao laughed, "You're tired, aren't you?"

Now that he mentioned it, Yoh _was_ indeed feeling tired after such a long eventful day. He continued to stare at Hao, who still had that cheerful smile on his face; through this, Yoh was able to see that Hao was feeling tired too, since he _did_ play all day without getting a moment's rest. Hao even tended to him by cooking him a meal and trying to make him feel at home. Suddenly, Yoh felt like he was being a huge burden to the older; perhaps the reason why Hao was telling him to go to bed as soon as possible was because he wanted to get some rest as well.

With that in mind, Yoh nodded and turned to lie on the bed. His head felt heavy, but the rest of his body felt light; an obvious sign that he needed rest — _badly_. He slowly closed his eyes, and, in a matter of seconds, he was already in a deep sleep.

* * *

><p><em>"Asa-kun, if I like you, does that make me gay?"<em>

_"What are you saying? You're only gay if you like girls."_

_"But how would I know if you're a girl or not?"_

_"You just have to find out."_

_"How do I do that?"_

_"...Like how all the grown-ups do. We put our lips together."_

* * *

><p>Yoh sat up in bed, covered in sweat. His breathing was normal, his pulse was fine; he checked. He didn't feel terrified; he simply didn't understand why he woke up so suddenly with his head and body damp with sweat. It wasn't like he was having a nightmare, too. Yoh thought long and hard about the flashback he just had; he had already forgotten most of it by then, and the only thing he could recall was his friend's last line, "<em>We put our lips together<em>". Back then, Yoh didn't know what he meant, but now that he was older, Yoh could only widen his eyes and blush as he repeated the words over and over again to himself and registered the meaning.

Determined to brush such embarrassing thoughts off his mind, Yoh quickly turned to face Hao. He found him sitting upright on the chair next to the bed, although his head was slightly tilted forward. Yoh noticed him taking deep breaths, and giggled when he heard him snoring softly as well; the poor guy must have been exhausted from the game the previous day. Yoh smiled; it was funny how Hao looked so much like a young child in his sleep.

Yoh didn't know why, but he was obliged to stand up and turn to face Hao. Although the latter's hair was covering parts of his face, Yoh couldn't help but catch sight of his lips, which were slightly parted. They were pale and dry, but Yoh thought that they were beautiful, nonetheless.

Recollections of his flashback ran through his head again, and Yoh's blush returned. Now there was no way to get rid of his thoughts in such a situation. Even if they were evil.

Yoh considered them _evil_, because he felt that his thoughts was giving him an unknown urge to lean forward, to get closer to Hao. Their faces were only centimetres apart when he did so, and by then, the sight of Hao's lips only made Yoh tremble involuntarily. Yoh could feel Hao's soft minty breaths against his own lips; he was still sleeping, and he was probably completely oblivious to the other.

Yoh hesitated for a moment; _was it right for him to do this_? What would happen if Hao woke up now? He would think that Yoh was a freak, and they might never be friends any more after such an embarrassing and terrifying situation. That always happened, at least in Yoh's logic.

He focused his gaze on Hao, who was still sleeping soundly like a baby. Yoh noticed that he wasn't having any rapid eye movement, but Yoh figured that since Hao had been so tired from his match.. Surely he couldn't notice him now. Perhaps he wouldn't even notice what he was going to do next...

The flashback came again, and Yoh's blush only deepened. He slowly leaned closer to the older, taking slow and steady breaths after each second, and _very gently_, he locked his lips with Hao's. He was even bold enough to close his eyes afterwards; he had no clue as to why he was doing this — and to someone who only considered him as a _friend_, at that — but he felt that there was just this selfish part of him on the inside that made him do it. Yoh stayed there for a few seconds, and had wanted to part his lips; however, his body wouldn't oblige. He only remained in his position; his lips touching the other's pair, and his eyes closed. He was completely oblivious to the other when he suddenly opened his eyes, only to find himself in an unexpected situation.

As if by instinct, Hao immediately raised his hands and pushed Yoh away from him with an incredible amount of force. Yoh wasn't anticipating this, and so he simply fell back onto the bed behind him, ultimately shocked and confused. He watched as Hao brought a hand to his face to touch his own lips, while he stared at the younger.

"Wh—...What were you doing?"

Yoh gulped. He tried to think of a decent response, but he couldn't. He was constantly being distracted by his conscience that kept nagging at him. _How could you have been so foolish_?

Hao mumbled something, but Yoh was unable to catch what it was. A rush of guilt went through him every time he saw the older cupping a hand over his mouth every now and then.

Very suddenly, Hao turned to Yoh and widened his eyes. "Did you have some sort of _feelings_ for me?" he questioned quickly. He sounded blunt, but if he didn't want any misunderstandings.. "Did you have this random desire to.. — I don't know — _kiss me_?"

Yoh was appalled by how straightforward the questions were, and honestly, he was afraid to answer them, but he _had_ to tell him the truth. Besides, Hao was bound to know of his feelings for him, someday. Yoh nodded sheepishly. By now he already had his head lowered for he was too afraid to meet the gaze of the man before him. It was probably the best idea.

Hao mumbled something again, only he did so very quickly, before speaking to the younger once more. "_I_... Yoh, I have something to say."

Yoh nodded again. "I know," he said. "You think I'm disgusting."

Hao was slightly taken aback by his response. "I don't think you're disgusting," he replied calmly. It only surprised him that Yoh didn't have any problems with kissing someone of the same sex. It wasn't disgusting, especially to _Hao_. Nevertheless, he needed to get the message clear. "It's just...," he continued. "...If you had hoped for us to be together, then I'm sorry. I can't be with you."

Yoh blinked; of course, he was already expecting this kind of response, but it still didn't fail to send a sharp pain straight to his chest. He felt his heart sink, and very instantly Yoh began to regret even waking up that morning. He just wanted to continue sleeping, to live in a world where he could be an innocent little kid once more, with his beloved friend whom he called '_Asa-kun_'. They never had to worry about things like this, then. They could play all day without having any thoughts of growing up. No more confusion, no more misunderstandings. Just him, his friend, and his childhood.

Yoh got to his feet. He didn't wish to speak any more, but he knew by now that Hao probably understood what he meant. Yoh then left the room and began walking towards the main door. After what happened, there was no point in staying in that tiny apartment any longer, unless he wanted to humiliate himself further.

For some reason, Hao felt it hurt to see the other leaving without even saying goodbye. He knew the atmosphere around them wasn't very good, and that saying any more would only make the situation worse, but he just didn't like it. This wasn't his first time calling the rejection — but besides Yoh, his other admirers were girls. When he rejected them and watched them leave, he felt nothing. Sorry for them, perhaps, but that was it. He only didn't understand why it felt so painful to watch _Yoh_ leave. Somehow, watching the other leave like that felt so familiar to him.

"There is already someone I like," Hao blurted before the other could reach the door, although he didn't know why. He just felt like it was something he should say at that point of time.

For a moment, Yoh paused in his tracks to turn to Hao. His expression seemed like a mixture of disappointment, and shock. Then, within seconds, he was gone. He had already left and closed the door behind him, leaving Hao feeling lonelier than ever before.

**x-X-x-X-x**

His heart was beating rapidly, and he quickened his pace. _What was happening_? Tears were already beginning to well up in his eyes. Yoh quickly wiped them away, and continued to walk down the path as fast as he could to the main road. He would be able to find a cab there, and then he'd go straight home. Yoh didn't know why, but he felt sad — and _guilty_. He felt his emotions overwhelm him as he recalled how he had just left Hao like that, all alone in his apartment, without having said a word to him.

He had expected Hao to reject him anyway, of course; why would the school's star and hero have feelings for a nobody like _him_? Hao was probably being nice by letting him know that there was already someone he liked. He knew Hao didn't mean to hurt him, but the way Yoh had treated him afterwards probably made Hao feel like... _nothing_. Yoh had no right to act like that. It was his fault all this had to happen, after all.

Yoh stood by the road and waited impatiently for a cab to come his way. He watched as a number of vehicles drove by, as several other people walked past him. It was still early in the morning, but the streets were already so busy. It only baffled Yoh because he had assumed this neighbourhood to be an obscure one, since it lay by the outskirts of Tokyo. Although there were tons of people here, however, the atmosphere around them didn't feel right. It still felt grey, sad, and...

Yoh felt another sharp pain in his chest as another disturbing thought registered in his mind, and then he mentally cursed himself for being so foolish. For leaving Hao like that. For being so mean to him. For _everything_.

He thought that.. perhaps the reason why Hao had wanted him to stay last night, was because Hao was feeling lonely, just like everyone else who lived in this neighbourhood.

* * *

><p>"So, how did the game go yesterday?"<p>

"It was all right." Jeanne smiled. "There was a large audience, and I learnt a thing or two about volleyball."

Marco nodded in approval. "That's good. I'm glad you enjoyed it."

The loving conversation between the father and his daughter was suddenly interrupted by loud crashing sounds. They turned, only to find a wooden table — in shreds. Remnants of the table traced back to where the giant was standing, and he did not look too happy. His fists were clenched, and he grit his teeth; he looked as though he was ready to jump into war.

Oddly enough, the little girl Jeanne was far from surprised upon observing the scene. Her father had told her that her future father-in-law had a short temper and possessed physical power strong enough to cause a tremor in the area. She was even told to expect sudden ragequits from the giant whenever she was around him. Nevertheless, Jeanne didn't mind it one bit; in fact, she actually found it amusing.

En grunted, "Where is that little brat? He runs away just as the girl is about to leave..."

Marco laughed after realising whom the giant was referring to. "Don't worry about that!" he assured En. "We don't have to wait for him; we can just leave now. I'm sure you've got some things to settle later on." En frowned, because Marco was speaking the truth.

Both the Lasso's got to their feet and bowed courteously to the Tao's. Marco bid them farewell, before calmly leaving the building and making his way to his lacky limousine, with Jeanne following close behind. The both of them entered the vehicle, and their trusty chauffeur drove off quickly.

Just as En was about to close the main doors behind him, a familiar voice calling "Father!" rang in his ears, and he quickly turned to the direction of the voice, as did Jun.

Great timing.

Jun and En suddenly found Ren walking down the path, facing them. Behind him stood a girl which looked to be his age; she was dressed in a silky white dress, and a sun hat. She quickly hid behind Ren when she caught sight of the other Tao's; the foreign family intimidated her and made her feel so inferior.

Jun arched her brows in surprise and amusement upon seeing the girl, while her father could only stare with his jaw dropped.

Once Ren and the girl finally caught up with the other two, Ren couldn't help but look around cautiously. "Have Jeanne and her father left already?" he asked.

En frowned. "You just missed them." He was sure he just heard his son heave a sigh of relief.

Ren resumed his sturdy posture and nudged the girl to stand beside him. She did, so he began, "Father, this is.. the girlfriend I was telling you about." Then, as if on cue, both Ren and the girl bowed. It was torture trying to suppress a gulp. Ren was truthfully awful at lying.

Jun gasped upon hearing the words of her brother, while En only had his gaze fixed on the girl. He was eyeing her, watching her every move.

Ren, too, watched his father carefully, praying to the great spirits above that his father wouldn't suspect anything about the girl. Ren had, after all, just randomly picked one of his fangirls at the tournament the day before, when Jeanne had went to the washroom. Ren explained everything to the girl, and had to make it clear to her that they were only role playing, and that she shouldn't take it so seriously. Thankfully, the girl understood him perfectly, and even promised not to tell a single soul about this. At first, Ren was sceptical of her words, but after a while, he realised he could trust her. In fact, he felt like he could trust her more after he compared her with the other girls. This one seemed the most mature and trustworthy.

"...Greetings," the girl spoke. Her voice was naturally soft, but fortunately, it was loud enough for even En to hear her. To be polite, she took her hat off, revealing her short black hair that seemed to match her pale skin. "My name is Hibiya Shizen."

En continued to examine her. "Very well," he said. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Hibiya." He shifted his gaze to Ren now, who was still staring at him sternly. "Bring her in," En ordered. "We have some things to deal with."

Secretly, Ren wanted to pat himself on the back for being able to pass his father's first round of approval. There was still conversation left to do, however. _Shizen will ace this_, Ren thought proudly to himself. After all, she was his fangirl.

They stepped into the house, and Ren quickly took Shizen by the hand and escorted her to the living room, where En was waiting for them. They took their own seats, while Jun distributed three glasses of warm green tea on the coffee table. She retreated quickly to the kitchen, knowing very well that she didn't have the right to be part of the conversation. It bothered her that she couldn't be part of the fun, but she had her duties as a daughter of a Tao, and she had to fulfill them well, otherwise she might turn out to be just like her brother.

**x-X-x-X-x**

En took a sip of his tea, while he continued to eye the girl. "So," he began. "For how long have you known my son?"

The girl Shizen flashed a grin that deemed far too casual. "Oh, for many years, actually!" she responded excitedly. She seemed more confident now than she was just moments ago, but maybe this time it was because she was given the right to talk about the man she liked very much. "We went to the same elementary and middle school, and for a year, we were even in the same class! I knew I liked him the moment I set my eyes on 'im!"

Ren had to stop himself before he could roll his eyes and grimace. _Okay_, maybe this was going way too far. It still amazed him how a normal person such as himself had so many admirers, though, or at least _that_ was what Ren thought of himself.

En placed his half-empty glass back onto the table. "I mean, how long have you two been together?"

"For as long as we've been in Shinra," Ren answered immediately, before Shizen could even utter a word. Luckily, she got the hint, and she nodded enthusiastically, as if agreeing with him.

En seemed to ponder something, and this only made Ren feel nervous. Hopefully his father wasn't beginning to have suspicions about them already. He answered the last question only because he wanted to save his own skin. And Shizen's.

Suddenly, En shot another question at her face, "What kind of family were you born into, Miss Hibiya?"

Both teens widened their eyes, appalled that the man even asked such a question. Ren, however, mentally cursed himself; he should have seen this coming! The demon in disguise — Jeanne — came from a well-to-do family, and even her father was the owner of a huge toy company. She was lucky enough to be adopted by Marco Lasso. Of course, to En, family background was extremely important.

"Well, my family isn't that rich...," Shizen responded, her gaze lowering to the polished marble floor beneath them. "But it's not poor, either...!"

Ren was relieved when Shizen finally came up with an answer, although he wasn't sure if her answer was good enough.

En nodded thoughtfully. "Very well, then," he said. "I suppose this is a good time for a test."

Both teens blinked. "A test...?"

"Yes," En said. "A test to see if you, Miss Hibiya, are worthy enough to be my daughter-in-law, of course."

* * *

><p><strong>I only just realised how much this fic resembles one of those ridiculous shoujo manga.<strong>

**Gah, I hate this chapter. I don't like anything I wrote in here. The fluff, the kiss, the Shizen, the everything sfkjdad;dj. I hope I didn't disappoint you guys. Honestly. If you didn't enjoy this chapter, please don't hesitate to tell me. I'll put a note never to add such stupid things in a fic ever again.**

**The fluff between Yoh and Asa-kun was added at the last minute. It was something to - I don't know - foreshadow the horrible kiss scene (yes, I'm aware Hao and Yoh were very OOC there; first day of fasting month and my brain is not working without the presence of caffeine in my body. But the first few days are always like that, so it's normal). On a side note, I wanted to share this bit of nugget with you guys too: When I was a kid, it was considered gay if you liked someone of the opposite sex (what is my childhood).**

**The girl, Shizen, was inspired by the Vocaloid song, Kagerou Days.**

**EDIT: I forgot to add in your review replies. Sorry! I'll do it now!:**

**RoseblossomWarrior: I'M GLAD. \o/ Pfft, you're doing just fine! And yeah, I need to stop working so hard. orz  
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**FreedomFallenStar: Oh, my! Your review has made me so happy! Thank you so, so much! It motivates me, really, to write even more when I come across reviews like yours. Thanks again; I really appreciate it! I'll try my best not to disappoint readers like you! *bows*  
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**TotalAmuto: Because shipping them together is socially acceptable, yes.  
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**SK-fan7: xD You had me! I missed you too, honestly! Sorry I haven't been so active nowadays. orz And ah! Don't fangirl too hard! Or you'll end up becoming a wreck just like me- /shot  
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**xoxo: Because it's shorter? xD I always liked it better than Yuan, don't know why. Thank you very much, by the way!  
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**Yuki Usagi-Nyan: xD It's okay, I do that sometimes! And no worries, I'm pretty new to this shipping too, actually! Thank you very much!  
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**Shadowzamy: I could have sworn I've seen your username somewhere. I mean whut. Thank you, and I'm glad! I hope this chapter didn't disappoint you, though. D: Thanks, again!  
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**neo: I apologise for my absence. orz I need to work that out. Thank you!  
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**I want to get this chapter done already so I'll never have to deal with it again. Also, I just wanted to apologise for my long absence. orz**

**- A**

**P.S. Sorry for any mistakes!**


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